Medical Dictionary Online

Pasteurellosis, Pneumonic

Bovine respiratory disease found in animals that have been shipped or exposed to CATTLE recently transported. The major agent responsible for the disease is MANNHEIMIA HAEMOLYTICA and less commonly, PASTEURELLA MULTOCIDA or HAEMOPHILUS SOMNUS. All three agents are normal inhabitants of the bovine nasal pharyngeal mucosa but not the LUNG. They are considered opportunistic pathogens following STRESS, PHYSIOLOGICAL and/or a viral infection. The resulting bacterial fibrinous BRONCHOPNEUMONIA is often fatal.