Ruminant neurologic diseases

Abstract

The diagnosis of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in indigenous cattle in Europe, Israel, Japan, and, more recently Canada and the United States, has had a tremendous impact on the global cattle industry and has forever altered the methods for feeding, processing, and rendering of ruminant animals. It is humbling to recognize that the smallest infectious agent known—the prion—has produced such a large-scale result. Much has been learned since the initial 1986 report on BSE in the United Kingdom. One important lesson was that veterinary clinicians constitute the first line of defense in recognizing and diagnosing new diseases. As such, it is vital that veterinarians become well trained in the science and art of the physical examination, including the neurologic examination. It is also important for veterinarians to be able to differentiate the normal from the abnormal and the usual from the unusual. This issue of the Veterinary Clinics of North America: Food Animal Practice was written by ruminant clinicians for the practicing veterinarian. It focuses on the pathophysiology, neuroanatomical localization, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of ruminant neurologic diseases, using the important principles of evidence-based medicine. The authors are all internationally known specialists in ruminant internal medicine and have published extensively in the field of ruminant neurologic disease. To the authors I extend my sincere thanks for sharing their knowledge and clinical experience. To you, the practicing veterinarian, is passed the responsibility of identifying the first case of BSE or any other neurologic disease in your practice. It was the authors’ intention to provide all the information required to Peter D. Constable, BVSc, MS, PhD