Bacillary Hemoglobinuria in Japanese Black Cattle in Hiroshima, Japan: A Case Study

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Three Japanese Black cows housed with 6 other cows exhibited main clinical symptoms of severe hemoglobinuria. Hematological analyses conducted after antibiotic therapy demonstrated severe anemia, and biochemical analyses indicated both severe hemolysis and disruption of hepatic function. One of the three cows died. Based on the above analyses and observation of typical clinical symptoms, a speculative diagnosis of bacillary hemoglobinuria was made, and immediate high-dose antibiotic treatment improved the general conditions of the surviving animals. Blood samples from the other 2 cows were collected sequentially after antibacterial therapy. Clostridium haemolyticum was detected by a nested polymerase chain reaction analysis of the blood samples. The cows were diagnosed with the second recorded occurrence of bacillary hemoglobinuria in Japan.KEY WORDS: bacillary hemoglobinuria, cattle, Clostridium haemolyticum.

Recovery with a regular dose of antibiotics from bacillary hemoglobinuria in a Holstein cow

“…Interestingly, the present Holstein cow successfully recovered as a sporadic case with the help of a regular dose of antibiotics. The reasons for these different pathological conditions between our previous cases [11, 12] and the present case are not known.…”

“…[11] reported the second occurrence of BHU in Japanese Black cows and their complete recovery following administration of a large dose of antibiotics. Hence, all previous available reports concerning the occurrence of BHU in Japan were about Japanese Black cows in herds managed under pasture feeding conditions [11, 12]. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no documented report on the occurrence of BHU in Holstein cattle.…”

“…In Japan, the first occurrence of BHU was reported in Japanese Black cows in Kagoshima prefecture in 2009 [12], and the second occurrence was also reported in Japanese Black cows as well in Hiroshima prefecture in 2011 [11]. Before that, there were several reports on bovine cases suspected with BHU in various regions in Japan, which were not diagnosed definitively and microbiologically [6].…”

“…Our previous reports of BHU in Japanese Black cattle suggested that the dose, route and timing of antibiotic administration at the first treatment were critical for achievement of an effective blood concentration of the antibiotic against C. haemolyticum and eventual recovery from the illness [11, 12]. The actual cases that recovered successfully had required an early presumptive diagnosis of BHU after observation of similar clinical signs and sudden death in preceding cases, and a prompt administration of a large dose of antibiotics.…”

Suspected Bacillary Haemoglobinuria in a Calf: A Case Report

“…The routine method for diagnosis of bacillary haemoglobinuria from live cattle involves microbiological isolation of the organism Clostridium haemolyticum in blood samples (Shinozuka et al, 2011). Nonetheless, the organism is difficult to culture, thus the presence of typical liver infarcts is sufficient for a presumptive diagnosis during post mortem examination (Khan and Line, 2005).…”