Congenital Porphyria in Swine and Cattle in Denmark

Inherited Disorders in Danish Cattle

“…A few cases have been reported in other breeds, such as Canadian Ayrshire cattle (126). The disorder has been reported in Holsteins in the USA (194,246,301), South Africa (88,89,91), and Denmark (145,147). The cases apparently occur as isolated familial clusters although this might be due to incomplete pedigree information.…”

“…Abnormal coloration of internal organs may be present due to accumulation of porphyrins or other forms of pigment, i.e. haemosiderin (146)(147)(148)151).…”

Comparative Biology: Animal Models of Human Hematologic Disease: A Review

“…Porphyria has been recognized in swine, and in contrast to the cattle-porphyria type, the disease in swine is inherited as a dominant characteristic and produces very little effect on the general health of the affected animals [85,86,88]. Photosensitivity is not seen even in pigs having only white hair.…”

“…Aberrant porphyrin metabolism has been described in cattle [1,32,59,85,86,88,117,128,129,162], swine [33,85,86,88] and squirrels [157]. The porphyrias of cattle are inherited as a simple mendelian recessive trait and have been studied more extensively than have the porphyrias of other species.…”

“…Uroporphyrin I levels in blood have been reported to be elevated. Another dark pigment of unknown nature accumulates in the liver, spleen, lungs, bones and kidneys [85,86,88]. In the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), uroporphyrin accumulates and is excreted in large amounts [157].…”