Introduction: A feedlot is an intensive farming system for finishing livestock. Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a cause of morbidity and mortality in beef cattle, especially in feedlots. Methodology: This study investigated the morbidity and mortality of BRD in a beef cattle feedlot in southeastern Brazil using: clinical diagnoses, therapy, morbidity, and mortality. Pulmonary fragments were collected from five steers, on feed from 3-32 days, with lesions of pneumonia for identification of BRD infectious agents PCR. Results: 188,862 steers were on feed and morbidity was 7.05% (13,315/188,862), mortality 0.64% (1,214/188,862). The causes of morbidity were: BRD (6.13%), lameness (0.29%), trauma (0.21%), clostridiosis (0.13%) and polioencephalomalacia, PEM (0.12%). The causes of mortality were: BRD (0.21%), trauma (0.17%), and clostridiosis (0.13%). When all sick cattle were considered (n=13,315), BRD (86.9%) was the principal cause of morbidity, followed by lameness (4.13%), trauma (3.05%), and clostridiosis (1.82%). The cost of BRD-associated cattle mortality and morbidity was estimated at $14,334.00/10,000 and $16,315.40/10,000 respectively. It was projected that the economic effects due to BRD-associated morbidity in Brazil were $6.31 million/annum, while losses due to mortality were $5.54 million, resulting in an annual loss of $11.85 million. Coinfections in cattle with pneumonia due to Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida were identified in 4/5 steers tested. Conclusions: This is the first longitudinal study that investigated the incidence of BRD in feedlot cattle from Brazil, and the results herein described indicate that BRD contributed significantly to the development of mortality and morbidity of cattle on feed.

Background: Osteosarcomas are common malignant bone tumors described in dogs, humans and cats. However, there are rare reports in horses. The tumor etiology has not been fully elucidated. Clinical signs are associated to the tumor size, location and growth characteristics. When located on the face, the most common findings are facial distortion, nasal discharge and inspiratory dyspnea. The aim of this study was to report an osteoblastic osteosarcoma in a horse, located on the right maxillary region with projections into the corresponding nostril.Case: A 6-year-old mixbreed saddle gelding, presenting bay coat was admitted to a University Hospital with a chronic sinusitis history. The animal was previously examined and treated by other veterinarians, who suspected of odontogenic maxillary sinusitis, and therefore a repulsion of the fourth premolar from the right maxilla hemiarcade was performed. However, an improvement of the clinical signs was not observed and subsequently the gelding was referred to a Veterinary Hospital. During physical examination the patient presented dyspnea, tachypnea and tachycardia. An increase on the face size was observed, together with a fetid and purulent nasal discharge. During oral cavity inspection, a diagonal wear was detected at the occlusal surface of the right hemiarcade; food accumulation was seen at the dental extraction site, and a communication with the rostral maxillary sinus was evidenced, from where a purulent fetid discharge was draining. At the radiographic exam, well defined margins of a tumor were observed, with adjacent bone lysis and the presence of a central nucleus showing a gross granular mineral radiopacity, distorting the frontal and nasal bones. During the endoscopic exam, a mass was partially occluding the right nasal cavity close to the nasal opening, which was blocking the progression of the endoscopy. However, during the left cavity inspection, at the end of the nasal septum a mass with irregular surface was detected emerging from the border of the right choana, which extended up to the nasopharynx region. The diagnosis was established based on clinical evaluation and histopathological findings of the tumor, which confirmed osteoblastic osteosarcoma. The animal was euthanized due to poor clinical conditions and prognosis. There was no evidence of metastasis to other organs during necropsy.Discussion: The majority of reported osteosarcoma cases in horses do not define the tumor histopathological subtype. The occurrence of metastasis in equine osteosarcoma is not well established, however it seems to be uncommon. It is important to emphasize the relevance of performing a necropsy in patients presenting osteosarcoma, in order to establish a pattern concerning the metastasis incidence in the species. The predominant osteosarcoma location is the mandible, although there are few reports in the paranasal sinuses and appendicular skeleton. The tumor usual location makes the treatment difficult because of the impossibility of performing a complete surgical resection, which leads to a euthanasia decision. Although osteosarcoma has been little reported in horses, it should be a differential diagnosis for facial alterations and paranasal sinuses abnormalities, which would contribute to an early diagnosis and increase the chances of a favorable prognostic.

Caracterização ultrassonográfica das estruturas flexoras musculotendíneas e ligamentares da porção distal dos membros de novilhas cruzadas RESUMOCaracterizaram-se, por meio da ultrassonografia, as estruturas flexoras da porção distal dos membros de bovinos utilizando-se peças anatômicas da porção distal dos membros torácicos e pélvicos, provenientes de 20 novilhas mestiças da raça Nelore, com idades entre 24 e 36 meses. Para análise ultrassonográfica, foram estabelecidas cinco zonas de avaliação no plano transversal, denominadas, respectivamente, de zonas A, B, C, D e E, e duas em plano sagital, F-III e F-IV. Na face flexora, foram avaliados os tendões flexores digitais superficial e profundo, o músculo interósseo, o ligamento acessório do tendão flexor digital profundo e a manica flexoria, quanto à forma, limites, posição, ecogenicidade e mensurações das áreas transversais em cm 2 . Sendo os resultados apresentados na forma descritiva e em tabelas, foi possível a caracterização das estruturas flexoras, identificando e determinando planos ultrassonográficos apropriados para a observação de imagens adequadas destes tecidos, além da obtenção de valores e parâmetros que possam ser utilizados como referência para esta espécie.

This study evaluated the occurrence of Leishmania spp. in equids from Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. Serum samples from 257 healthy equids of Uberlândia were assessed for the presence of antibodies against Leishmania spp. by using the indirect fluorescent-antibody test. Additionally, an epidemiological survey was done to evaluate the possible risk factors (species of equids, age, gender, economic activity, and contact with domestic and wild animals) associated with the presence of antibodies against Leishmania spp. The total seroprevalence against Leishmania spp. was 24.1% (62/257); representing seroprevalence levels of 22.7% (55/242) in horses, 50% (4/8) in mules, and 42.9% (3/7) in ponies from all regions evaluated. The species of equid was the only factor that contributed to an elevated seroprevalence of Leishmania spp.

Bovine respiratory diseases (BRD) affect production rates negatively because it compromise health and well-being of the affected animal. The hypothesis of this study was that the use of metaphylactic protocols based on the risk to develop BRD would reduce morbidity and pulmonary lesions. For this purpose, the aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of two metaphylactic protocols on the morbidity of feedlot cattle with a known sanitary history, occurrence of pulmonary lesions at slaughter, and the possible participation of Mannheimia haemolytica, Histophilus somni, Bovine alphaherpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) and bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) in the development of BRD. An experimental study was designed in which 3,094 adult, male, cattle, were grouped according to the risk to develop BRD: a) group without metaphylaxis (n=2,104), low-risk animals; b) metaphylaxis group with oxytetracycline (n=789), moderate-risk animals; c) metaphylaxis group with tildipirosin (n=201), high-risk animals. All cattle were immunized against pathogens associated with BRD (BoHV-1, BVDV, BRSV, PI3). The morbidity for BRD was 8.2% (253/3,094); cattle within the moderate-risk group for BRD had the lowest frequency (6.1%), followed by high-risk animals with tildipirosin metaphylaxis (6.5%) and low-risk without metaphylaxis (9.1%) (P=0.019). At the abattoir, 1.2% of lungs with lesions were found. There was a difference (P=0.036) in the frequency of pulmonary lesions between healthy animals (1.1%) and those diagnosed with BRD (2.8%). Two agents associated with BRD were identified by PCR assays in the lungs (n=37) of cattle: M. haemolytica (16.2%) and H. somni (5.4%). In addition, concomitant infections involving these pathogens were identified in the lungs of two steers. These results demonstrate that the use of metaphylactic protocols, based on the risk to develop BRD, reduces morbidity and pulmonary lesions in affected cattle. Furthermore, pulmonary lesions were more frequent in animals with a history of BRD.