Tuberculosis of the central nervous system in cattle in Paraíba, Brazil

Abstract

This paper describes six cases of tuberculosis in the central nervous system (CNS) of cattle in the state of Paraíba in northeastern Brazil. We reviewed the autopsy reports of 851 bovine necropsies performed from 2003 to 2016. Seventy-three (8.6%) cattle were diagnosed with tuberculosis and six showed lesions in the CNS. Three cases affected cattle up to two-year-old and other three affected adults. Three cattle presented exclusively nervous signs, two had respiratory signs and weight loss and one did not present any clinical signs. At necropsy, five cattle had thickening of the leptomeninges of the cerebellum, pons, obex, spinal cord and cortex, mainly, in the region near the brain basilar Willis´ circle. Another animal, presented a single focal lesion in the cerebellum. Microscopically we observed moderate to severe granulomatous meningitis and encephalitis. Five cattle presented lesions in the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes and three of them had disseminated lesions in other organs. In all cattle acid-fast bacilli were observed in the lesions and marked positive for immunohistochemistry with polyclonal antibody anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is concluded that bovine tuberculosis of central nervous system occurs sporadically in Paraíba, in cattle of different ages, most of them with disseminate lesions in other organs. The location of the lesions suggests that the agent invaded the brain by hematogenous route through the circle of Willis.

Genotypic Characterization of Mycobacterium bovis Isolates From Dairy Cattle Diagnosed With Clinical Tuberculosis

“…On the other hand, the granulomatous lesions located in the central nervous system in young cattle are probably related to the ingestion of colostrum/milk from infected cows and can be justified by ascending infection via hematogenic route. This form of cerebral tuberculosis in cattle was also reported by Konradt et al (11) and Silveira et al (12).…”

“…Non-etheless, young animals also contract the infection and develop disease, as demonstrated by M. bovis isolation from a 7-month-old calf. The frequency of tuberculosis in cattle aged <12 months is generally associated with the ingestion of colostrum/milk from infected cows or transplacental infection (11,12). The most evident clinical signs were observed in the advanced stages of the disease, as described by Izael et al (10) and Waters (13), except for the calf that manifested the disease earlier in the form of cerebral tuberculosis combined with depression and paresis of the limbs.…”

Ocular tuberculosis in a calf.

“…Other less frequently affected organs are the regional lymph nodes, spleen, liver, kidney, intestine, mesenteric lymph nodes, vertebrae, and spinal cord. However, ocular involvement has rarely been reported [ 6 , 8 ]. In this case report we present for the first time the macroscopic and microscopic pathological description of ocular tuberculosis in a calf.…”