CASE REPORT: TUBERCULOSIS IN A GOAT (CAPRA HIRCUS)

ABSTRACT

A 3-year-old Saanen-breed was examined at the Veterinary Hospital of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry of the University of São Paulo, with a history of progressive emaciation and respiratory disease which did not respond to conventional antibiotic therapy. The animal was underweight, had swelling of the left submandibular lymph node and signs of bronchopneumonia. As it was reactor for comparative cervical test, the goat was slaughtered and at necropsy tuberculosis-like lesions were found in its submandibular and mesenteric lymph nodes, lungs and spleen. Acid-fast bacilli growth occurred within 32 days in Stonebrink media culture and the isolate was identified by PCR as M.bovis. Diagnostic test for Corynebacterium sp. was negative. Histopathologic examination showed characteristics of tuberculosis granulomas. When the acid-fast stain was employed in lesions smears, it was possible to observe bacilli in the middle of a granuloma, suggesting Mycobacterium spp. Tuberculosis cases in goats have been considered rare in Brazil.

KEY WORDS
Tuberculosis; goats