Ultrasonographic findings in goats with contagious caprine pleuropneumonia caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae

Mohamed Tharwat,Fahd Al-Sobayil

doi:10.1186/s12917-017-1167-4

Abstract

BackgroundIn goats, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is a cause of major economic losses in Africa, Asia and in the Middle East. There is no information emphasising the importance of diagnostic ultrasound in goats with CCPP caused by Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp). This study was designed to describe the ultrasonographic findings in goats with CCPP caused by Mccp and to correlate ultrasonographic with post-mortem findings. To this end, 55 goats with CCPP were examined. Twenty-five healthy adult goats were used as a control group.ResultsMajor clinical findings included harried, painful respiration, dyspnoea and mouth breathing. On ultrasonography, a liver-like echotexture was imaged in 13 goats. Upon post-mortem examination, all 13 goats exhibited unilateral pulmonary consolidation. Seven goats had a unilateral hypoechoic pleural effusion. At necropsy, the related lung was consolidated and the pleural fluid appeared turbid and greenish. Pleural abscessiation detected in five goats was confirmed post-mortem. Twenty-eight goats had a bright, fibrinous matrix extending over the chest wall containing numerous anechoic fluid pockets with medial displacement and compression of lung tissue. Echogenic tags imaged floating in the fluid were found upon post-mortem examination to be fibrin. In two goats, a consolidated right parenchyma was imaged together with hypoechoic pericardial effusions with echogenic tags covering the epicardium. At necropsy, the right lung was consolidated in three goats and fibrin threads were found covering the epicardium and pericardium.ConclusionsIn goats with CCPP, the extension and the severity of the pulmonary changes could not be verified with clinical certainty in most cases, whereas this was possible most of the time with sonography, thus making the prognosis easier. Ultrasonographic examination of the pleurae and the lungs helped in the detection of various lesions.

Highlights

In goats, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is a cause of major economic losses in Africa, Asia and in the Middle East
The diseased goats were enrolled in the study in situ based on a positive serological latex agglutination test (LAT) (CapriLAT, product code: RAI 6224, lot number: MccpLAT304141, Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Surrey, United Kingdom) that confirmed the detection of Mycoplasma capricolum subsp. capripneumoniae (Mccp) as the causative agent of CCPP [7,8,9,10]
Spontaneous coughing was detected in 39 goats and seven had coughing upon stimulation

Summary

Introduction

Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is a cause of major economic losses in Africa, Asia and in the Middle East. Goats can survive in harsh environments in which other livestock species would perish They are able to live and reproduce in icy mountainous areas as well as in the hot, Among the important goat diseases, mycoplasmal infections result in significant losses in many countries, and morbidity and mortality can reach 100% [1]. Of these mycoplasmal infections, contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP), occurring in many countries in Asia and Africa, is a severe contagious respiratory disease of goats [2]. Respiration is accelerated and painful, coughing is frequent, and, in the terminal

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion