Malignant catharral fever: a wolf in sheep's clothing.

摘要

During recent years an increasing number of outbreaks of Malignant Catharral Fever (MCF) in cattle has been reported in several European countries. The clinical picture also seems to be changing: the disease used to be characterized by a low morbidity and a high mortality, but large outbreaks with high morbidity and high mortality have recently been reported in several European countries, including Belgium and the Netherlands. This evolution implies that MCF becomes increasingly an economically important disease. In this article an overview is presented on the current knowledge on MCF with emphasis on epidemiology, diagnosis and preventive measures. Due to the high seroprevalence in adult sheep and the absence of protective vaccines for cattle, the conclusion of this review is that at this moment prevention of MCF in cattle mainly depends on the stringent avoidance of all contacts between sheep and cattle.