Pleuropneumonia, Contagious Bovine

an infectious disease generally accompanied by serofibrinous pleuritis and by lobar pneumonia with inflammation of the interlobular connective tissue and lymphatic vessels and development of anemic necroses and sequestra. Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is distributed in Africa, Australia, Europe (Spain), and Asia. The disease was eradicated in the USSR in 1939. The causative agent, a microorganism of the family Mycoplas-mataceae, was first isolated by the French investigators E. No-card and P. Roux in 1898. Buffalo, yaks, bison, and zebu are susceptible to the disease. The causal agent is spread by airborne droplets that result from sneezing or coughing; less frequently it is expelled with the urine. Chronically sick animals play a major role in the spread of the disease.

Symptoms include high fever (above 14°C), labored breathing, coughing, a lack of appetite, and diarrhea. Diagnosis is based on epizootologic data, clinical examination, and the results of dissection and laboratory tests. If contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is established, the farm is quarantined, sick animals and suspect animals are killed, and special veterinary-sanitary measures are taken.