Megaesophagus in sheep and goats

Autor: Eduardo Melo Nascimento, Édipo Moreira Campos, Lisanka Ângelo Maia, Rosane Maria Trindade Medeiros, Maria Dalva Bezerra de Alcântara, Sara Dantas Vilar, Franklin Riet-Correa
Jazyk: English<br />Portuguese
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Zdroj: Ciência Rural, Iss 0 (2016)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1678-4596
0103-8478
DOI: 10.1590/0103-8478cr20151414
Popis: ABSTRACT: Megaesophagus is a rare disease in ruminants characterized by regurgitation of rumen contents. In this paper it was described cases of megaesophagus in two sheep and two goats on a farm in the state of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil. All animals showed regurgitation of rumen contents and weight loss, with a clinical course of several months. At necropsy all animals presented megaesophagus. Histological examination showed segmental muscle necrosis in the esophagus and skeletal muscles. Serum samples from one sheep and one goat were negative for the presence of blue tongue antibodies by ELISA, and whole blood and muscle samples from one goat were negative for this virus by RT PCR. Epidemiological data and pathology suggested that the disease could have been caused by some toxic plant, but known plants causing segmental muscle necrosis were not observed in the areas where the disease occurred.
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