VCP 411: Medicine Section

USES

• CSF collection and analysis forms an integral part of the clinical work up of neurological diseases in ruminant species. It is particularly useful when differentiating inflammatory lesions of the central nervous system from toxic, metabolic and traumatic conditions, thus permitting an accurate diagnosis.
• An accurate diagnosis is especially important when dealing with potential flock or herd problems where prophylaxis of at-risk animals may be indicated. An outbreak of polioencephalomalacia, for example, can be readily differentiated from bacterial meningitis, listeriosis, allowing specific prophylactic measures to be undertaken. Similarly, in cases of sudden death in cattle, CSF examination can give an accurate index of the serum magnesium concentration at the time of death. If a diagnosis of hypomagnesaemia is reached, specific control measures can then be recommended. CSF examination in adult cattle is also a very useful means of differentiating some cases of listeriosis from bovine spongiform encephalopathy.