A slaughterhouse survey of lung lesions in goats

Abstract

A survey of the lungs from 4284 goats killed at a slaughterhouse in the North Island of New Zealand during the winter of 1990 revealed only ten cases of non-parasitic bronchopneumonia. However, 41% of the lungs had lesions consistent with infection by Muellerius capillaris, 33% with Dictyocaulus filaria, and 8% with both species. The prevalence of parasitic lesions increased with age. The carcasses of goats with mild to severe Dictyocaulus filaria lesions were from 0.81 to 1.52 kg lighter than those without the lesions (p<0.001). The carcasses of goats with more than ten nodular (Muellerius capillaris) lesions were 0.75 kg lighter than those without the lesions (p<0.001). Twelve sets of lungs had lesions of chronic bronchiectasis. Nematode larvae were seen in the bronchial lumina of three of them. The microscopic appearance varied from a moderate dilatation of occluded bronchi which retained an intact epithelium, to large foreign-body granulomas where the remaining bronchial outlines were barely discernible. Multiple, very discrete, fibrous pleural plaques were found on the caudal lobes in two cases. Plaques of this morphology have not been described previously in the veterinary literature. Pleural adhesions were found in 350 cases (8.2%). The relatively higher frequency of pleurisy versus non-parasitic pneumonia suggests that pneumonia in goats in the North Island of New Zealand completely resolves in most cases.

Gross and Light‐microscopic Features of Ovine Pulmonary Hydatidosis and Verminous Pneumonias in Morocco*

“…cupilluris induced lesions is that the worm lives within alveoli but is enclosed in grossly visible hemorrhagia-to-greyish nodules that are mostly located subpleurally and may be diffuse, involving the entire lung. The findings in this study agree with other descriptions of this condition in sheep (BERESFORD-JONES, 1971 ;PIRIE, 1979;ARMOUR, 1983ARMOUR, , 1991DUNGWORTH, 1985;KIMBERLING, 1988;YATES, 1988 (PIRIE, 1979;ARMOUR, 1983ARMOUR, , 1991. By contrast, this parasite has been reported to have significant inhibitory effects on weight gain in goats (NIMMO, 1979).…”

“…By contrast, this parasite has been reported to have significant inhibitory effects on weight gain in goats (NIMMO, 1979). Moreover, an abattoir-based survey by VALERO et al (1992) indicated that carcasses of goats with more than 10 pulmonary nodular lesions of M . cupilluris were 0.75 kg lighter than those without the lesions.…”

Some Pathological Features of Lungs from Domestic and Wild Ruminants with Single and Mixed Protostrongylid Infections

“…Many pathological features of the lungs in domestic and wild ruminants with protostrongylid infections observed in the present study have been described by other researchers [8, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19–24]. However, limited attention has been paid to the parasite-host interaction within the inflammatory foci.…”

“…However, according to our data many of the alveolar septa remain without visible morphological abnormalities despite the presence of a large number of parasites in the alveolar lumen. According to the results of Valero et al [13] the lesions in goats associated with M. capillaris infection are nodular, disseminated mostly on the caudo-dorsal aspects of the lungs and their prevalence increase with age. The data of Berrag et al [8] are similar.…”

“…[13]) different species of protostrongylids produce similar gross and microscopic lesions. However, our studies show some unique aspects of the pathomorphological lung lesions in ruminants depending on the nematode and host species.…”