Journal
EPIDEMIOLOGY AND INFECTION
Volume 137, Issue 2, Pages 284-293Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/S0950268808000939
Keywords
AFLP; animal carcass; botulism; cattle; Clostridium botulinum; outbreak; silage
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The first reported bovine botulism outbreak in Finland is described. Nine out of 90 cattle on a dairy farm died after being fed non-acidified silage contaminated by animal carcasses. Type C botulinum neurotoxin gene was detected in one heifer by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the neurotoxin was detected by the mouse bioassay. Clostridium botulinum type C was isolated from liver samples. The isolated strain was identified with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis as group III C. botulinum. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a type C bovine botulism outbreak has been diagnosed by PCR and confirmed by subsequent isolation and AFLP identification of the disease strain. The importance of the acidification process in silage production to inhibit C. botulinum toxin production in silage and thus to prevent further botulism outbreaks is emphasized. Nevertheless, preformed toxin in the carcass is not destroyed by acid.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available