Ep. 187 - Case Report: Systemic Granulomatous Disease with Vasculitis in a Bull due to Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa) Toxicosis

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AABP Executive Director Dr. Fred Gingrich is joined by Dr. Lee Jones, technical services veterinarian with Boehringer-Ingelheim. Dr. Jones was previously an extension veterinarian at the University of Georgia and the attending veterinarian for this clinical case report published in The Bovine Practitioner, Volume 57, Number 2. Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) is a forage, and intoxication from the plant has been described in the literature, although this is a very unusual case. This case affected one animal in the herd, a 5-year-old Angus bull. The bull presented with generalized alopecia, thickened pleated skin and profuse malodorous watery diarrhea. This bull, along with 6 other beef bulls, had been grazing in a pasture containing hairy vetch for 5-6 months. Jones described the diagnostic samples that were taken to evaluate the bull and rule out other causes of systemic granulomatous disease and vasculitis. The bull was euthanized due to poor prognosis and deteriorating clinical condition. Necropsy revealed a disseminated systemic granulomatous disease with variable numbers of multinucleated giant cells and eosinophils was observed in multiple organs indicative of systemic granulomatous disease, along with vasculitis in the kidney, liver and adrenal gland, indicative that vasculitis is involved in the pathogenesis of the lesions. None of the other animals were removed from the pasture and they did not develop clinical signs. Jones indicates that practitioners should consider a full diagnostic work-up on these unusual cases which can include punch biopsies of the skin which revealed the vasculitis and granulomatous lesions.

Ilha, M. R., Hawkins, I. K., & Jones, A. L. (2023). Case report: Systemic granulomatous disease with vasculitis in a bull due to hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) toxicosis. The Bovine Practitioner, 57(2), 60–66. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol27no2p60-66

Washburn, K., Norman, T., Osterstock, J., & Respondek, T. (2007). Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa) toxicosis in a purebred Angus herd. The Bovine Practitioner, 41(1), 60–64. https://doi.org/10.21423/bovine-vol41no1p60-64