Pfitzer S, Last R, De Waal D T
Pongola Animal Clinic, PO Box 682, Pongola 3170, South Africa.
J S Afr Vet Assoc. 2004 Mar;75(1):54-7. doi: 10.4102/jsava.v75i1.451.
Rickettsial organisms resembling Ehrlichia ruminantium (the causative organism of heartwater) were demonstrated in brain smears and formalin-fixed brain sections derived from a buffalo calf that died on a private game reserve in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The possibility that the tick-free environment of a quarantine boma may have affected the calf's immunity, is discussed. These findings suggest that monitoring heartwater in wild ruminants and making brain smears as a routine during post mortem evaluations of wild ruminants, should be encouraged.
