Spontaneous bleeding in a neonatal calf persistently infected with BVDVlb

摘要

A calf developed skin bleeding on the second day of its life. It was referred to the clinic on suspicion of bovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP). Hematology showed extreme thrombocytopenia, moderate anemia, but no leukopenia. A PGR test on a heparinizedblood sample was bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) positive, as were the two BVDV antigen ELISAs performed three and ten weeks later. Non-cytopathic BVDV type lb was isolated from the blood. Although the calf recovered from hemorrhagic disease, and continued to be healthy, it was euthanized at eleven weeks of age because of persistent BVDV infection. On the basis of the case history, BNP could be excluded from the differential diagnosis. This case illustrates that hemorrhagic disease is not exclusively associated with BVDV type 2 and that the clinical signs in neonatal calves infected with BVDVlb can be identical to the clinical presentation of BNP.