actinomycosis

Identity

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Preferred Scientific Name

actinomycosis

International Common Names

English: actinomycosis in cattle; actinomycosis, lumpy jaw in ruminants and horses; lumpy jaw; otitis media, externa, interna, middle and inner ear infections

Pathogen/s

Top of page Actinomyces bovis
Actinomyces hyovaginalis
Actinomyces israelii
Actinomyces naeslundii
Actinomyces viscosus

Overview

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Actinomyces spp. are Gram-positive anaerobes normally found in the upper respiratory tract, oral cavity and digestive tract of domestic animals and humans. Although part of the normal flora, the bacteria are opportunistic invaders; several species are associated with diseases in animals (Glinski and Chelminski, 2014).

In cattle, Actinomyces bovis causes pyogranulomatous osteomyelitis of the mandible and maxilla, known as ‘lumpy jaw’ (Henton and Collett, 2004; Militerno, 2008). Disease occurs when A. bovis is introduced to underlying soft tissue via penetrating wounds of the oral mucosa from coarse feed or foreign material. Involvement of adjacent bone may result in facial distortion, dislodgement of teeth, inability to chew, mandibular fractures and obstruction of the nasal cavity (Mas et al., 2008; Pal et al., 2008; Shah et al., 2016). A. bovis has also been isolated infrequently from infections in sheep (Antunes et al., 2012), pigs (Farinha et al., 1980; Hu and Lin, 1995), llamas (Camenzind, 2005) and buffaloes (Ayyappan et al., 1993; Ali, 2000; Vaja et al., 2015).

Actinomyces israelii is primarily associated with chronic granulomatous infections in humans but has been associated rarely with disease in cattle (Thompson, 1950; Ivanova et al., 1990) and mastitis in pigs (Englert, 1961; Franke, 1973).

Actinomyces naeslundii has been isolated rarely from infections in livestock, including goats (Hirai et al., 2007) and aborted pigs (Palmer et al., 1979).

In pigs, Actinobaculum suis[previously Actinomyces suis, Eubacterium suis] is a significant cause of urinary tract infections (Wendt and Amtsberg, 1995; Kjelvik et al., 2002; Woldemeskel et al., 2002).

Actinomyces viscosus has been isolated from a case of actinomycosis in a West African Dwarf goat (Oyekunle et al., 2010), from a case of bovine haemorrhagic mastitis (Bakhiet et al., 1997) and from an aborted calf (Okewole et al., 1989).

Actinomyces hyovaginalis has been associated with abortion (Collins et al., 1993; Hogg et al., 2012) and lung lesions (Aalbæk et al., 2003; Reichel and Wragg, 2007) in pigs and with abscesses in sheep (Foster et al., 2012).

Host Animals

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Animal name	Context	Life stage	System
Bos indicus (zebu)
Bos taurus (cattle)
Capra hircus (goats)
Ovis aries (sheep)
Sus scrofa (pigs)

Systems Affected

Top of page bone, foot diseases and lameness in large ruminants
bone, foot diseases and lameness in small ruminants
digestive diseases of large ruminants
mammary gland diseases of pigs
reproductive diseases of pigs

Distribution Table

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The distribution in this summary table is based on all the information available. When several references are cited, they may give conflicting information on the status. Further details may be available for individual references in the Distribution Table Details section which can be selected by going to Generate Report.

Last updated: 10 Jan 2020

Continent/Country/Region	Distribution	Reference	Notes
Africa
Algeria	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Botswana	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Burundi	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Central African Republic	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Côte d'Ivoire	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Djibouti	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Egypt	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Eswatini	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Guinea	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Kenya	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)	CAB Abstracts Data Mining
Madagascar	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Mauritius	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
South Africa	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Sudan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Tanzania	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Togo	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Asia
Bahrain	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Indonesia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Iraq	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Jordan	Present, Serological evidence and/or isolation of the agent	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Kazakhstan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Kuwait	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Malaysia
-Peninsular Malaysia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
-Sabah	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
North Korea	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Oman	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Philippines	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Saudi Arabia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Singapore	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
South Korea	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Sri Lanka	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Syria	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Thailand	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
United Arab Emirates	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Uzbekistan	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Europe
Andorra	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Belarus	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Belgium	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Croatia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Estonia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
France	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Germany	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Ireland	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Isle of Man	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Jersey	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Latvia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Liechtenstein	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Lithuania	Present, Serological evidence and/or isolation of the agent	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Luxembourg	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Netherlands	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
North Macedonia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Norway	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Poland	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Portugal	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Serbia and Montenegro	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Slovakia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Slovenia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Spain	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Sweden	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Ukraine	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
United Kingdom	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
-Northern Ireland	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
North America
Belize	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Bermuda	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
British Virgin Islands	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Canada	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Cuba	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Curaçao	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Dominica	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Guatemala	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Haiti	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Jamaica	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Martinique	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)	CAB Abstracts Data Mining
United States	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Oceania
Australia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
French Polynesia	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
New Zealand	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Samoa	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Vanuatu	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
South America
Argentina	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Brazil	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Chile	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Colombia	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Falkland Islands	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
French Guiana	Absent, No presence record(s)	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Guyana	Present, Serological evidence and/or isolation of the agent	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Peru	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)
Uruguay	Present	OIE Handistatus (2005)

List of Symptoms/Signs

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Sign	Life Stages	Type
Acoustic Signs / Deafness		Sign
Acoustic Signs / Purulent, mucoid discharge, excess wax, foul odour, ears		Sign
Acoustic Signs / Rubbing ears, scratching		Sign
Cardiovascular Signs / Tachycardia, rapid pulse, high heart rate		Sign
Digestive Signs / Anorexia, loss or decreased appetite, not nursing, off feed		Sign
Digestive Signs / Anorexia, loss or decreased appetite, not nursing, off feed		Sign
Digestive Signs / Difficulty in prehending or chewing food		Sign
Digestive Signs / Difficulty in prehending or chewing food		Sign
Digestive Signs / Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing		Sign
Digestive Signs / Excessive salivation, frothing at the mouth, ptyalism		Sign
Digestive Signs / Loose teeth, tooth		Sign
Digestive Signs / Malocclusion of teeth, tooth		Sign
Digestive Signs / Oral mucosal ulcers, vesicles, plaques, pustules, erosions, tears		Sign
Digestive Signs / Vomiting or regurgitation, emesis		Sign
General Signs / Ataxia, incoordination, staggering, falling		Sign
General Signs / Dysmetria, hypermetria, hypometria		Sign
General Signs / Fever, pyrexia, hyperthermia		Sign
General Signs / Fever, pyrexia, hyperthermia		Sign
General Signs / Haemorrhage of any body part or clotting failure, bleeding		Sign
General Signs / Head, face, ears, jaw weakness, droop, paresis, paralysis		Sign
General Signs / Head, face, ears, jaw, nose, nasal, swelling, mass		Sign
General Signs / Inability to stand, downer, prostration		Sign
General Signs / Lack of growth or weight gain, retarded, stunted growth		Sign
General Signs / Opisthotonus		Sign
General Signs / Oral cavity, tongue swelling, mass in mouth		Sign
General Signs / Reluctant to move, refusal to move		Sign
General Signs / Stiffness or extended neck		Sign
General Signs / Swelling mass penis, prepuce, testes, scrotum		Sign
General Signs / Swelling skin or subcutaneous, mass, lump, nodule		Sign
General Signs / Torticollis, twisted neck		Sign
General Signs / Underweight, poor condition, thin, emaciated, unthriftiness, ill thrift		Sign
General Signs / Underweight, poor condition, thin, emaciated, unthriftiness, ill thrift		Sign
General Signs / Weight loss		Sign
General Signs / Weight loss		Sign
Nervous Signs / Circling		Sign
Nervous Signs / Dullness, depression, lethargy, depressed, lethargic, listless		Sign
Nervous Signs / Dullness, depression, lethargy, depressed, lethargic, listless		Sign
Nervous Signs / Head shaking, headshaking		Sign
Nervous Signs / Head tilt		Sign
Nervous Signs / Tremor		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Corneal edema, opacity		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Corneal neovascularization, pannus		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Corneal ulcer, erosion		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Decreased or absent menace response but not blind		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Decreased tearing, lacrimation		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Hypopyon, lipid, or fibrin, flare, of anterior chamber		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Lacrimation, tearing, serous ocular discharge, watery eyes		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Miosis, meiosis, constricted pupil		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Nystagmus		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Photophobia		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Ptosis, lid droop		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Purulent discharge from eye		Sign
Ophthalmology Signs / Strabismus		Sign
Pain / Discomfort Signs / Ocular pain, eye		Sign
Pain / Discomfort Signs / Pain, head, face, jaw, ears		Sign
Pain / Discomfort Signs / Pain, testes		Sign
Reproductive Signs / Agalactia, decreased, absent milk production		Sign
Respiratory Signs / Abnormal breathing sounds of the upper airway, airflow obstruction, stertor, snoring		Sign
Respiratory Signs / Coughing, coughs		Sign
Respiratory Signs / Dyspnea, difficult, open mouth breathing, grunt, gasping		Sign
Respiratory Signs / Increased respiratory rate, polypnea, tachypnea, hyperpnea		Sign
Respiratory Signs / Increased respiratory rate, polypnea, tachypnea, hyperpnea		Sign
Skin / Integumentary Signs / Purulent discharge skin		Sign
Skin / Integumentary Signs / Skin fistula, sinus		Sign