Neurological Disorders in Cattle

Cattle can suffer from various types of neurological disorders, the most famous being mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Neurological diseases are first diagnosed by an evaluation of the action of the head, the gait, the neck and thoracic limbs and the trunk, pelvic limbs, anus and tail. Further diagnostic analysis includes tests on serum, blood, urine, feces and cerebrospinal fluid, diagnostic imaging and electrodiagnostic testing.

  1. Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

    • Cows can transmit BSE to humans.

      BSE is one of the most feared cattle diseases because it can spread both to other cattle and to humans. Meat from infected cows can cause Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, a fatal neurological condition, in humans. Cattle with BSE usually show signs of gait problems and weight loss, with the disease being fatal in three months.

    Myelin-Associated Neurological Disorders

    • Cattle can suffer from inheritable neurological diseases.

      Hypomyelination and dysmyelination, conditions in which brain axons are inadequately sheathed with fatty tissue, can occur in cattle with a genetic propensity. Hypomyelination is inheritable but can also be caused by in utero infection with swine fever, border disease or bovine viral diarrhea.

    Other Neurological Conditions

    • Cattle are susceptible to infectious neurological agents.

      Cattle can suffer from meningitis and encephalitis caused by bacterial infections, viral infections, protozoan infections and, rarely, fungal infections. Rabies can also affect cows, as can pseudorabies, a herpes virus that can be fatal. Sporadic bovine encephalomyelitis, a disease caused by the chlamydia parasite, can be fatal but is treatable.

      Disorders caused by toxins are frequently caused by ionophore toxicity and organophosphate poisoning by ingestion. Botulism affects cows usually after ingestion of the botulinum toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum in feedstuffs and can be fatal.

      Tick paralysis is caused by salivary toxins produced by a feeding tick and most often is curable by removal of the tick from the affected animal.