Actinobacillosis of Cattle in the United States

Abstract

So far as I have been able to determine, the finding of Actinobacillus lignieresi in cattle in this country had not been reported until recently,1 although thirty years have elapsed since Lignieres and Spitz2 first described this organism as one of the etiologic agents of bovine actinomycosis in Argentina. The work of Lignieres and Spitz has been fully confirmed by Higgins3 in Canada, Nocard4 in France, Griffith,5 Bosworth6 and Davies and Torrance7 in Great Britain, Magnusson 8 and Hulphers 9 in Sweden, Bongert9 in Germany and Gunst9 in Holland. Reference is made to the articles by these observers for details regarding the multiple etiology of bovine actinomycosis. M'Fadyean 10 has expressed the present status of this question abroad. Only a summary of the essential facts will be presented here. The clinical or pathologic condition in cattle called actinomycosis is caused by several agents, the two most significant of which are Actinomyces bovis (also called Streptothrix) and Actinobacillus lignieresi. There is little in the tissue reactions to distinguish the two infections, although the distribution of lesions is somewhat different. Most of the infections of bone are caused by Actinomyces bovis, and most of those of the tongue, glands and soft tissues in general are caused by Actinobacillus lignieresi, but there are exceptions. The organisms themselves are different. Their chief point of similarity is the ability to form in tissues the aggregations called sulphur bodies. Actinomyces bovis is a gram-positive, rod-shaped or filamentous organism, growing best under reduced oxygen tension; Actinobacillus lignieresi is a small, gram-