Casein lymphadenitis in goats and sheep: Review

Abstract

The caseous lymphadenitis is a disease that affects sheep and goats causing economic losses. It is a contagious disease of worldwide occurrence, mainly in the developing countries, occurring in every Brazilian herd, especially in the Northeastern states, notably in Bahia and Pernambuco. Despite having a high prevalence, prevention, diagnosis and treatment are neglected, increasing the risk of contamination among the herds and consequently the decrease of the productivity of these animals and the quality of the product to the consumer. Some prevention methods are being developed, using dead, alive and inactivated bacteria, which may or not to use recombinant DNA technology. The virulence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is associated with cell wall lipids and phosfolipase D, as well as the production of biofilms. The production of these virulence genes increases the survival and growth of the pathogen. The aim of this study was to address in this review the economic impacts of caseous lymphadenitis, epidemiology, pathogenesis and virulence factors and signaling information on different aspects of C. pseudotuberculosis strains producing and non-producing biofilm, seeking to provide subsidies that may contribute to the improvement of vaccines and diagnosis of this disease of small ruminants.