Pulmonary Mycobacterium bovis infection in a dog

Abstract

dAim: To describe the clinical course of a dog infected with Mycobacterium bovis causing a granulomatous pneumonia.

dClinical findings: The dog initially presented with a persistent cough, inappetence and weight loss. Clinical findings included a fever, dyspnoea and tachypnoea, with haematological evidence of a mild neutrophilia and hypoalbuminaemia. Radiographs of the chest demonstrated a concomitant pneumothorax, pleural effusion, and a consolidated area within the left caudal lung lobe. An exploratory thoracotomy revealed this to be a ruptured granulomatous lesion. Subsequent histopathological, microbiological and genetic studies identified M. bovis as the causal agent.

dClinical significance: Mycobacterium bovis infections should be included in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary disease and pleural effusions in dogs living in regions of New Zealand known to have a high incidence of mycobacterial infection in wildlife and farm animals.

KEY WORDS:

• Dog
• Mycobacterium bovis
• pneumonia
• pneumothorax
• pleural effusion