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Vetdle Archive

Archive Case #54: Bovine Paratuberculosis

Cattle veterinary case - Medium - April 26, 2026

Clinical Clues

  1. An adult cow in the herd has been losing weight for months despite maintaining a fair appetite.
  2. The farmer reports chronic soft faeces that have gradually become more persistent.
  3. The affected animal is bright but progressively emaciated.
  4. There is no obvious response to routine parasite treatment.
  5. Faecal and herd-level testing support a chronic mycobacterial enteric infection.
  6. Paratuberculosis (Johne disease) commonly causes chronic wasting and diarrhoea in adult cattle.

Diagnosis

Bovine Paratuberculosis

This case is most consistent with Bovine Paratuberculosis because the cow has chronic wasting with persistent diarrhoea and testing supportive of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis. The most important clues are the long time course, maintained appetite, and poor response to routine treatments, which make simple parasitism 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 Paratuberculosis, then compare your reasoning with the case explanation.

Evidence checkpoints

Clues 1-2

  1. Clue 1: An adult cow in the herd has been losing weight for months despite maintaining a fair appetite.
  2. Clue 2: The farmer reports chronic soft faeces that have gradually become more persistent.

Clues 3-4

  1. Clue 3: The affected animal is bright but progressively emaciated.
  2. Clue 4: There is no obvious response to routine parasite treatment.

Clues 5-6

  1. Clue 5: Faecal and herd-level testing support a chronic mycobacterial enteric infection.
  2. Clue 6: Paratuberculosis (Johne disease) commonly causes chronic wasting and diarrhoea in adult cattle.

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 Paratuberculosis?
  3. How do clues 5-6 align with the case explanation for Bovine Paratuberculosis?

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.