A study was carried out to test the accuracy and consistency of veterinary pathologists, not specialists in hematopathology, in applying the World Health Organization (WHO) system of classification of canine lymphomas. This study represents an initiative of the ACVP Oncology Committee, and the classification has been endorsed by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WASVA). Tissue biopsies from cases of canine lymphoma were received from veterinary oncologists, and a study by pathologists given only signalment was carried out on 300 cases. Twenty pathologists reviewed these 300 cases with each required to choose a diagnosis from a list of 43 B and T cell lymphomas. Three of the 20 were hematopathologists who determined the consensus diagnosis for each case. The 17 who formed the test group were experienced but not specialists in hematopathology, and most were diplomates of the American or European Colleges of Veterinary Pathology. The overall accuracy of the 17 pathologists on the 300 cases was 83%. When the analysis was limited to the 6 most common diagnoses, containing 80% of all cases, accuracy rose to 87%. In a test of reproducibility enabled by reintroducing 5% of cases entered under a different identity, the overall agreement between the first and second diagnosis ranged from 40 to 87%. The statistical review included 43,000 data points for each of the 20 pathologists.

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Pulmonary fibrosis and interstitial lung disease are poorly understood in horses; the causes of such conditions are rarely identified. Equine herpesvirus 5 (EHV-5) is a gamma-herpesvirus of horses that has not been associated with disease in horses. Pathologic and virologic findings from 24 horses with progressive nodular fibrotic lung disease associated with EHV-5 infection are described and compared with 23 age-matched control animals. Gross lesions consisted of multiple nodules of fibrosis throughout the lungs. Histologically, there was marked interstitial fibrosis, often with preservation of an "alveolar-like" architecture, lined by cuboidal epithelial cells. The airways contained primarily neutrophils and macrophages. Rare macrophages contained large eosinophilic intranuclear viral inclusion bodies; similar inclusion bodies were also found cytologically. The inclusions were identified as herpesviral-like particles by transmission electron microscopy in a single horse. In situ hybridization was used to detect EHV-5 nucleic acids within occasional macrophage nuclei. With polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the herpesviral DNA polymerase gene was detected in 19/24 (79.2%) of affected horses and 2/23 (8.7%) of the control horses. Virus genera-specific PCR was used to detect EHV-5 in all of the affected horses and none of the control horses. EHV-2 was detected in 8/24 (33.3%) of affected horses and 1/9 (11.1%) of the control horses. This disease has not been reported before, and the authors propose that based upon the characteristic gross and histologic findings, the disease be known as equine multinodular pulmonary fibrosis. Further, we propose that this newly described disease develops in association with infection by the equine gamma-herpesvirus, EHV-5.

Abstract. Mycoplasma bovis is perceived as an emerging cause of mortality in feedlot beef cattle. This study examined the lesions and infectious agents in naturally occurring M. bovis-associated bronchopneumonia and arthritis and the relationship of this condition with bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection. Standardized pathologic, immunohistochemical, and microbiologic investigations were conducted on 99 calves that died or were euthanized within 60 days after arrival in 72 feedlots. Cranioventral bronchopneumonia with multiple foci of caseous necrosis was identified in 54 of 99 calves, including 30 with concurrent fibrinosuppurative bronchopneumonia typical of pneumonic pasteurellosis. Mycoplasma bovis was consistently identified in these lesions by culture and immunohistochemistry, but also commonly in healthy lungs and those with pneumonia of other causes. Focal lesions of coagulation necrosis, typical of pneumonic pasteurellosis, were often infected with both Mannheimia haemolytica and M. bovis. Arthritis was present in 25 of 54 (46%) calves with M. bovis pneumonia, and all calves with arthritis had pneumonia. BVDV infection was more common in calves with lesions of bacterial pneumonia than in those dying of other causes, but BVDV infection was not more common in calves with caseonecrotic bronchopneumonia than those with fibrinosuppurative bronchopneumonia. Retrospective analysis identified cases of M. bovis pneumonia in the early 1980s that had milder lesions than the current cases. The findings suggest that, in at least some calves, M. bovis induces caseonecrotic bronchopneumonia within the lesions of pneumonic pasteurellosis.

This study determined the prevalence of diseases and pathogens associated with mortality or severe morbidity in 72 Ontario beef feedlots in calves that died or were euthanized within 60 days after arrival. Routine pathologic and microbiologic investigations, as well as immunohistochemical staining for detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) antigen, were performed on 99 calves that died or were euthanized within 60 days after arrival. Major disease conditions identified included fibrinosuppurative bronchopneumonia (49%), caseonecrotic bronchopneumonia or arthritis (or both) caused by Mycoplasma bovis (36%), viral respiratory disease (19%), BVDV-related diseases (21%), Histophilus somni myocarditis (8%), ruminal bloat (2%), and miscellaneous diseases (8%). Viral infections identified were BVDV (35%), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (9%), bovine herpesvirus-1 (6%), parainfluenza-3 virus (3%), and bovine coronavirus (2%). Bacteria isolated from the lungs included M. bovis (82%), Mycoplasma arginini (72%), Ureaplasma diversum (25%), Mannheimia haemolytica (27%), Pasteurella multocida (19%), H. somni (14%), and Arcanobacterium pyogenes (19%). Pneumonia was the most frequent cause of mortality of beef calves during the first 2 months after arrival in feedlots, representing 69% of total deaths. The prevalence of caseonecrotic bronchopneumonia caused by M. bovis was similar to that of fibrinosuppurative bronchopneumonia, and together, these diseases were the most common causes of pneumonia and death. M. bovis pneumonia and polyarthritis has emerged as an important cause of mortality in Ontario beef feedlots.

Mycoplasma bovis is an important and emerging cause of respiratory disease and arthritis in feedlot cattle and young dairy and veal calves, and has a variety of other disease manifestations in cattle. M. bovis is certainly capable of causing acute respiratory disease in cattle, yet the attributable fraction has been difficult to estimate. In contrast, M. bovis is more accepted as a cause of chronic bronchopneumonia with caseous and perhaps coagulative necrosis, characterized by persistent infection that seems poorly responsive to many antibiotics. An understanding of the disease has been recently advanced by comparisons of natural and experimentally induced disease, development of molecular diagnostic tools, and understanding some aspects of virulence, yet uncertainties regarding protective immunity, the importance of genotypic diversity, mechanisms of virulence, and the role of co-pathogens have restricted our understanding of pathogenesis and our ability to effectively control the disease. This review critically considers the relationship between M. bovis infection and the various manifestations of the bovine respiratory disease complex, and addresses the pathogenesis, clinical and pathologic sequelae, laboratory diagnosis and control of disease resulting from M. bovis infection in the bovine respiratory tract.

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BackgroundThoracic ultrasonography (US) and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) analysis are antemortem methods used to identify the lung lesions associated with bovine respiratory disease (BRD). Accuracy of US and the cell distributions in BALF have not been characterized in calves with subclinical disease.ObjectivesTo evaluate the accuracy of US and BALF and describe BALF characteristics in calves with subclinical lung lesions.AnimalsTwenty‐five Holstein calves, 1–12 weeks old.MethodsIn this prospective study, calves with low respiratory scores underwent US, BALF and postmortem examination (normal US, n = 5; comet‐tails, n = 5; consolidation, n = 15). Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was collected and analyzed for total and differential cell counts. Lung lesions were assessed by gross and histopathologic examination. Data were analyzed using nonparametric methods and relative risk analysis. The accuracy of US and BALF were estimated relative to postmortem examination.ResultsThe sensitivity and specificity of US for detecting lung lesions was 94% (95% CI, 69–100%) and 100% (95% CI, 64–100%), respectively. A cut‐point of ≥4% BALF neutrophils was associated with the highest BALF sensitivity and specificity, 81% (95% CI, 56–94%) and 75% (95% CI, 36–95%). The presence of consolidation on US increased the risk of having a BALF neutrophil proportion ≥4% (RR, 3.9; 95% CI, 1.13–13.45; P = .003).Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceUltrasonography accurately detects lung lesions in calves with subclinical disease. Clinicians should use a cut‐point of ≥4% BALF neutrophils to diagnose subclinical respiratory disease.