ISRAEL JOURNAL OF
VETERINARY MEDICINE
Letter to the Editor
Vol. 57 (1) 2002
ADULT BOVINE JEJUNAL HEMORRHAGE SYNDROME AN EMERGING DAIRY DISEASE ?
J. Brenner1, U. Orgad1, D. Tiomkin2, I. Vaksmann2 and S. Perl1
1 - Kimron Veterinary Institute, P.O.Box 12, 50250 Bet Dagan, Israel
2 -HaChaklait, Caesaria, Israel
Three adult dairy cows from three different farms were examined at the Kimron
Veterinary Institute during 2001 because of “sudden death”. No specific clinical
details were provided. The owners reported no premonitory signs prior to finding the
dead cows. On post-mortem examination, extensive hemorrhage and blood clots were
found in the lumen of the small intestine. The small intestine of one of the cows
appeared as if the blood “was sequestered” in the upper part since blood was not
observed further down in the colon. The macroscopic and histological examinations
of the internal organs as well as routine laboratory examinations revealed no specific
disease or pathogenic agent. No lesions in the mucosa of the gastro-intestinal tract
could be detected. The cause of death thus appeared to be cardiac collapse due to
massive intestinal hemorrhage.
During January 2002, five cases of “profuse bloody diarrhea” were reported on three
large dairy farms in the south of Israel. No signs were noted other than a marked drop
in milk production on the same or previous day to the appearance of the diarrhea. The
cows had a normal rectal temperature. Abdominal colic was the only clinical
manifestation and the cows resisted tenaciously to the penetration of the practitioner’s
hand during rectal palpation. Three cows died within 24 hours of the hemorrhage
while the other two recovered.
We have compared our preliminary findings with those of American investigators
who described a novel emerging syndrome which they tentatively defined as the
“jejunal hemorrhage syndrome” (JHS) in adult cattle (1,2). The most salient clinical,
pathological and epidemiological findings that they report are referred to as “acute
hemorrhagic enteritis of the small intestine” or “hemorrhagic bowel syndrome” of
adult cattle. Their findings were as follows:
Clinical signs - A severe drop in milk production, colic, and abdominal distension are
observed. Affected cows are often found dead or death ensued within 24 to 36 hours
from the onset of clinical signs. A high case fatality rate was reported (85% or more
of the affected cows died). Kirkpatrick (1) proposed that JHS might be responsible for
an annual morbidity rate of up to 2% of the dairy adult cow populations in affected
herds and thus this disease may be under-reported. The median number of cases of
JHS was estimated to be one case per herd per year (2).
Pathology – Sections of the jejunum are distended by large amounts of blood and/or a
blood clot that obstructs the intestinal lumen. Some observers encountered
intussusceptions associated with JHS.
Epidemiology: Godden et al., (2) conducted a preliminary survey in order to define
the most likely risk factors for JHS. They reported that there were more cases during
the colder seasons in cows with increased milk production and in association with a
higher soluble carbohydrate food intake. After analyzing their questionnaire the most
important probable risk factors, which deserve future study are associated with parity,
stage of lactation, season of year, herd size, and feeding management.
References
1. Kirkpatrick, M. A, Timms, L.L. and Kersting, K.W.: Case reportjejunal hemorrhage syndrome of dairy cattle, Bovine Practitioner, 35:
104-116, 2001.
2. Godden, S., Rod, F. and Trevor, A.: Survey of Minnesota dairy
veterinarians on the occurrence of and potential risk factors for jejunal
hemorrhage syndrome in adult dairy cows. Bovine Practitioner, 35: 97103, 2001.