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Read-Only Case Details Reviewed: May 2010

JPC SYSTEMIC PATHOLOGY

MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEM

March 2025

M-B01

 

Signalment (ACVP# 75-28): 5-month-old Hereford calf  

 

HISTORY: This animal was from a feedlot containing 42 cattle. Over a period of 2 weeks, 4 calves died. The gross lesions consisted of hemorrhagic edematous foci in the muscles with gaseous crepitation of the adjacent tissues.

 

HISTOPATHOLOGIC DESCRIPTION: Skeletal muscle: Affecting 80% of the section, there is marked expansion of muscle fascia (epimysium, perimysium, and endomysium) up to 300µm, separating muscle fascicles and individual myocytes, by moderate to abundant amounts of fibrin, hemorrhage, and edema, admixed with degenerate neutrophils and karyorrhectic and cellular debris (necrosis). There is extensive acute, monophasic myofiber necrosis characterized by hypereosinophilic, fragmented sarcoplasm with loss of cross striations, nuclear pyknosis, and karyolysis. Less frequently, there are multifocal areas of myofiber degeneration characterized by myofiber swelling and vacuolation. Multifocally there are ectatic lymphatics and variably sized, up to 2mm diameter, well-demarcated clear spaces that compress adjacent myocytes (emphysema). Within adjacent adipose tissue, there is expansion by a neutrophilic, serohemorrhagic infiltrate admixed with abundant 2-4µm basophilic extracellular bacilli and beaded eosinophilic material (fibrin).

 

MORPHOLOGIC DIAGNOSES: 1. Skeletal muscle: Myositis, necrohemorrhagic, acute, diffuse, severe, with emphysema, edema, and numerous extracellular bacilli, Hereford, bovine.

 

ETIOLOGIC DIAGNOSIS: Clostridial myositis

 

CAUSE: Clostridium chauvoei

 

CONDITION: Blackleg

 

SYNONYMS: Black-quarter, emphysematous gangrene

 

GENERAL DISCUSSION:

 

PATHOGENESIS:

   ·  Alpha toxin: Oxygen-stable hemolysin; necrotizing and hemolytic 

   ·  Beta: DNAse; hydrolyzes phosphodiester bonds in DNA 

   ·  Delta: Oxygen-labile hemolysin; forms pores in lysosomal membranes    

   ·  Gamma: Hyaluronidase; hydrolyzes hyaluronate linkages  

   ·  Neuraminidase: Removes sialic acids from glycoconjugates

 

TYPICAL CLINICAL FINDINGS:

 

TYPICAL GROSS FINDINGS:

 

TYPICAL LIGHT MICROSCOPIC FINDINGS:

 

ADDITIONAL DIAGNOSTIC TESTS:

 

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: 

Myopathy:

 

Sudden death in cattle:

 

COMPARATIVE PATHOLOGY:

Clostridium chauvoei in other species:

 

REFERENCES:

  1. Cooper BJ, Valentine BA. Muscle and Tendon. In: Maxie MG, ed. Jubb, Kennedy, and Palmer’s Pathology of Domestic Animals. Vol 1. 6th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2016:230-34.
  2. Gal A, Castillo-Alcala F. Cardiovascular System, Pericardial Cavity, and Lymphatic Vessels. In: Zachary JF, ed. Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2022:687.
  3. Howerth EW, Nemeth NM, Ryser-Degiorgis MP. Cervidae. In: In: Terio K, McAloose D, Leger J, eds. Pathology of Wildlife and Zoo Animals, San Diego, CA: Elsevier 2018: 164-165.
  4. Jones MEB, Gasper DJ, Mitchell E. Bovidae, antilocapridae, giraffidae, tragulidae, hippopotamidae. In: In: Terio K, McAloose D, Leger J, eds. Pathology of Wildlife and Zoo Animals, San Diego, CA: Elsevier 2018: 133.
  5. Morrell EL, Odriozola E, Dorsch MA, et al. A review of cardiac blackleg in cattle, and report of 2 cases without skeletal muscle involvement in Argentina. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2022;34(6):929-936.
  6. Oliveira Junior CA, Silva ROS, Lobato FCF, et al. Gas gangrene in mammals: a review. J Vet Diag Invest. 2020;32(2):175-183.Richter V, Roch FF, Knauss M, et al. Animal-related factors predicting fatal cases of blackleg and gas gangrene in cattle. Vet Rec. 2021;189(10):e558.
  7. Stanton JB, Zachary JF. Mechanisms of Microbial Infections. In: Zachary JF, ed. Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2022:234. 
  8. Valentine BA. Skeletal Muscle. In: Zachary JF, ed. Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2022:1010, 1016, 1024-1025.
  9. Welle MM, Linder KE. The Integument. In: Zachary JF, ed. Pathologic Basis of Veterinary Disease. 7th ed. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2022:1170.


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