Dictyocauloses

helminthic diseases of herbivorous animals caused by nematodes of the genus Dictyocaulus and characterized by bronchitis and bronchopneumonia.

Dictyocauloses occur everywhere. Affecting predominantly the young, dictyocaulosis retards the growth and development of the animals and lowers their productivity and resistance to other diseases. Animals are infected by dictyocauloses by swallowing invasive larvae with water or grass. From the intestinal tract the larvae penetrate into the mesenteric lymph glands, migrate through the lymphatic system, and enter the lungs with the bloodstream, where they produce focuses of inflammation. Subsequently, separate focuses merge, the process intensifies, and bronchopneumonia develops. In the first days after infection, the animal’s appetite decreases and diarrhea appears; after two or three weeks a cough develops. The animals lose weight and develop anemia. Sick animals are treated with intratracheal injections of iodine solutions and subcutaneous or intramuscular injections of Ditrazin, loxuran, or cyazidum. Sheep, goats, and cattle are dehelminthized by inhalation of aluminum iodide aerosols.

Prevention consists in isolating young animals (calves) in stall-to-range and pasture areas, changing pastures, periodically examining the young and, upon discovery of infested animals, dehelminthizing the entire affected herd.