• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Locations:
  • Canyon
  • Center
  • College Station
  • Gonzales
  • TVMDL Career Center
  • Contact Us

Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

Apple App

download on the Apple App Store
download the app on Google Play

Search

Translate:

  • Find a Form
  • Deliver a Sample
    • Specimen Collection Information
    • Packaging Samples for Shipment
    • Drop Off a Sample
    • Cremation
    • Order Supplies
  • Client Portal
    • Get Test Results
    • SVA Portal
    • Pay a Bill
  • Become a Client
  • Resources
    • TVMDL Bovine Testing Guidance and Reference Material
    • Diagnostic Plans
      • Bovine Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
      • Equine Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
      • Small Ruminant Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
      • Small Animal Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
    • Education Library
    • Case Study Library
    • Electronic Reporting: QR Coding Process
    • CoreOne Resources
  • About Us
    • Locations and Hours
    • Agency Leadership
    • Speaker’s Bureau
    • Texas Pullorum-Typhoid Program
    • TVMDL Mobile app
    • Contact Us
  • Locations
    • College Station Laboratory
    • Canyon Laboratory
    • Center Laboratory
    • Gonzales Laboratory
  • Contact Us

Nervous Coccidiosis diagnosed in a bull

October 8, 2018 by Mallory Pfeifer

Nervous Coccidiosis diagnosed in a bull
By Jay Hoffman, DVM, PhD

A 12-month-old crossbred bull was submitted to the Texas A&M Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) in College Station for necropsy.  The clinical history indicated that this animal had periodic seizures and bouts of ataxia for two days.  The animal would appear to be normal between these neurologic episodes.  The referring veterinarian indicated that the neurologic signs could be triggered by making the animal move.  The animal died two days after first exhibiting neurologic signs. The primary lesions observed at necropsy were dark red lungs that exuded a clear fluid on the cut surface and a lack of feces in the distal colon.

The most important histologic lesion was moderate colitis with numerous developmental stages of coccidia within the epithelial cells.  In some areas, the luminal mucosa was eroded.  The lumen contained numerous mature coccidia.

Nervous coccidiosis is usually a problem in feedlots when the weather is cold.  In herd epidemics of coccidiosis, approximately 20% of the affected cattle may have nervous signs.  The fatality rate of animals affected with nervous coccidiosis is approximately 50%.  The primary coccidial agents associated with nervous coccidiosis are Eimeria zuernii and Eimeria bovis.  The underlying cause of the nervous signs associated with nervous coccidiosis is inconclusive.   Some studies have proposed a neurotoxin found in the blood of affected animals while other studies propose an underlying electrolyte imbalance caused by diarrhea associated with coccidiosis.  Regardless, histologic lesions are not observed in the brain of affected animals.  The diagnosis of nervous coccidiosis is based upon the clinical signs, large numbers of coccidia in the feces and a lack of histologic lesions in the brain.

For more information on this case, contact Dr. Jay Hoffman, histopatholgy section head. To learn more about TVMDL’s test catalog, visit tvmdl.tamu.edu or call 1.888.646.5623.

Colon from bull. Numerous developmental stages of coccidia within the epithelial cells.

Filed Under: Case Study Tagged With: bovine, bull, histopathology, pathology, TVMDL, TVMDL-College Station

Primary Sidebar

Latest Case Studies

  • Neurologic Disease due to Bovine Herpesvirus-5 (BHV-5) Infection in a 3-week-old Charolais mix calf

    February 27, 2023

  • Rare case of ocular onchocerciasis in a dog from south Texas

    January 25, 2023

  • Cerebrospinal Nematodiasis (Visceral Larval Migrans) in Birds

    September 13, 2022

  • Spironucleosis (Hexamitiasis) in Quail

    August 9, 2022

  • Endocarditis in a White-Tailed Deer Caused by Trueperella pyogenes

    August 9, 2022

Footer

For Employees

  • Employee Email
  • TVMDL Rules & Procedures
  • TVMDL Career Center
  • Emergency Alert Systems
  • AgriLife People Directory
  • AgriLife Administrative Services
  • TAMUS Single Sign On
  • Facebook

State of Texas

  • Texas.gov Portal
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Statewide Search
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Risk, Fraud, & Misconduct Hotline

Policies

  • Privacy and Security Policy
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Texas A&M AgriLife
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research

483 Agronomy Rd
College Station, TX 77843