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Vetdle Archive

Archive Case #120: Bovine Salmonellosis

Cattle veterinary case - Medium - July 1, 2026

Clinical Clues

  1. Several adult cattle become depressed and develop diarrhea over a short period.
  2. Affected animals are febrile, and milk production drops sharply.
  3. Feces become foul, watery, and may contain blood or mucus.
  4. Some cows are dehydrated and systemically ill rather than just scouring.
  5. The pattern suggests an infectious enteric disease with septic potential.
  6. Salmonellosis in cattle commonly causes severe enteritis with fever and marked production loss.

Diagnosis

Bovine Salmonellosis

This case is most consistent with Bovine Salmonellosis because the cattle have febrile diarrhoea with systemic illness and herd-level spread. The most important clues are the fever and toxic appearance, which make simple nutritional scours less likely.

Learning review

Review the case evidence

Use the paired clues to explain how the evidence in this cattle case supports the provided diagnosis, Bovine Salmonellosis, then compare your reasoning with the case explanation.

Evidence checkpoints

Clues 1-2

  1. Clue 1: Several adult cattle become depressed and develop diarrhea over a short period.
  2. Clue 2: Affected animals are febrile, and milk production drops sharply.

Clues 3-4

  1. Clue 3: Feces become foul, watery, and may contain blood or mucus.
  2. Clue 4: Some cows are dehydrated and systemically ill rather than just scouring.

Clues 5-6

  1. Clue 5: The pattern suggests an infectious enteric disease with septic potential.
  2. Clue 6: Salmonellosis in cattle commonly causes severe enteritis with fever and marked production loss.

Self-review prompts

  1. After clues 1-2, what evidence from this cattle case shaped your initial interpretation?
  2. When you compare clues 3-4 with clues 1-2, what changed in your reasoning about Bovine Salmonellosis?
  3. How do clues 5-6 align with the case explanation for Bovine Salmonellosis?

Educational Use

Vetdle archive cases are educational veterinary games for diagnostic reasoning practice. They do not provide veterinary advice, diagnosis, treatment, or professional medical guidance.