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Bovine Petechial Fever

ISSN 2398-2993

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Synonym(s): Ondiri disease

Introduction

  • Cause:
    • Bovine petechial fever (BPF) is caused by the rickettsial parasite, Ehrlichia ondiri.
    • An as yet unidentified biting arthropod, possibly a tick of restricted distribution, is thought to be the vector of the disease.
  • Signs:
    • Fluctuating pyrexia, lethargy, lacrimation, milk drop in lactating dairy cows, petechial hemorrhages in mucus membranes, epistaxis, melena, abortion may occur in pregnant animals and anaemia may be so severe cattle may die up to 4 weeks post infection.
    • Unilateral edema of the conjunctivae is peculiar for BPF (poached egg eye) and may be accompanied by blood in the anterior chamber of the eye.
  • Diagnosis:
    • Clinical signs coupled with the recent movement of cattle to forest edges within BPF endemic regions allows for a presumptive diagnosis. However BPF cannot be definitively differentiated from a range of other diseases (eg Rift Valley Fever, Trypanosomosis, Theileriasis, Heartwater) and poisoning (Bracken fern poisoning) based on clinical signs alone.
    • Definitive diagnosis can be achieved using a range of methods.
  • Treatment: experimental infections suggest that oxytetracycline and dithioemcarazone are useful whilst clinical signs persist. Both are ineffective in advanced disease. Recovered animals develop immunity which can last for at least 2 years.
  • Prognosis: guarded (mortality ca. 50%) unless therapy is instigated early in the disease process. If signs of hemorrhage are already present, the disease is invariably fatal.

Geographic incidence

  • BPF primarily occurs in non-indigenous cattle grazing thick scrubland or the edge of forested areas in Kenya. The disease has also been reported, but not confirmed in Tanzania and maybe present elsewhere in East Africa. Indigenous breeds are also susceptible in which latent infections can occur.
  • Bovine petechial fever has only been officially reported in Kenya in cattle grazing thick scrubland or forested areas at 1500-3000m altitude and in blood and spleen samples collected from wild bushbuck found in an area where BPF is endemic.
  • Experimental infection suggests that this disease can also affect (at least via experimental routes) other ruminants such as sheep, goats, impala, Thomson’s gazelle and wildebeest.  As such the disease is probably endemic in wild animals, particularly the bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus).

Breed/Species predisposition

  • There is no sex or age predisposition. Bos Taurus Bos Taurus breeds are more susceptible than Bos indicus.
  • Clinical disease is more severe in non-indigenous breeds and outbreaks classically occur in the potential dairy farming regions of Kenya where non-indigenous, higher producing cattle are kept.
  • Indigenous cattle appear more resistant but can develop latent infections. 

Public health considerations

  • None.

Cost considerations

  • BPF is an economically important disease. During disease outbreaks, up to 80% of cattle may be affected where mortality (ca. 50%) and a prolonged depressed milk yield in acutely diseased and recovered animal’s accounts for the main financial losses.

Special risks

  • Profound anemia. 

Pathogenesis

Predisposing factors

General

  • Grazing thick scrubland or the edge of forested areas at 1500-3000m altitude in East Africa.
  • Presence of wild bushbuck. 

Specific

  • New naïve cattle recently introduced to endemic regions.
  • Characteristically disease occurs in cattle which have broken out from fenced pastures and grazed the adjacent bushland.
  • Disease incidence appears to increase during the wet season.

Pathophysiology

  • The highest levels of infective rikettsial bodies are found in the blood, subsequent to endothelial cell degeneration and blood leakage. 
  • This accounts for the petechial hemorrhages and ecchymosis of mucus membranes associated with the disease.

Timecourse

  • The duration of clinical disease is up to 10 days.

Epidemiology

  • Clinical disease is most commonly observed in  naïve, non-indigenous cattle recently introduced to endemic regions.

Diagnosis

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Treatment

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Prevention

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Outcomes

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Further Reading

Publications

Refereed Papers

  • Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
  • Davies F G (1993) Bovine petechial fever (Ondiri disease). Veterinary Microbiology (34), 103-121.
  • Snodgrass D R, Karstad L H & Cooper J E (1975) The role of wild ruminants in the epidemiology of bovine petechial fever. J Hyg (Lond) 74 (2), 245-50. 
  • Krauss H, Davies F G, Odegaard O A & Cooper J E (1972) The morphology of the causal agent of bovine petechial fever (Ondiri disease). J Comp Pathol 82 (3), 241-6.
  • Dawe P S, Ohder H, Wegener J & Bruce W (1970) Some observations on bovine petechial fever (Ondiri disease) passaged in sheep. Bull Epizoot Dis Afr 18 (4), 361-8.

Other sources of information

  • Radostits O M, Gay C C, Blood D C & Hinchcliff K W (2005) Diseases of the Cardiovascular System. In: Veterinary Medicine. 9th edn. W B Saunders, USA. pp 1276-1277.