Clinico-pathological study of heartwater in goats.

The clinico-pathological features of heartwater were studied in goats experimentally infected with a Nigerian isolate of Cowdria ruminantium. Significant drop in haemoglobin values and marked leukopaenia caused by lymphopaenia and neutropaenia and a fall in total serum protein were observed during the course of the disease. A significant increase in the alpha-globulins and an apparent fall in the gamma-globulins also occurred. Marked depletion of lymphocytes in the follicles of spleen and lymph nodes was observed in histological sections. A dramatic rise in blood levels of glucose, pyruvate and lactate, and a drop in blood pH occurred terminally and appeared to contribute to the fatal outcome of the disease.