Pulmonary Mycobacterium bovis infection in a dog

Aim: To describe the clinical course of a dog infected with Mycobacterium b ovis causing a granulomatous pneumonia. Clinical findings: The dog initially presented with a persistent cough, ina ppetence and weight loss. Clinical findings included a fever, dyspnoea and tachypnoea, with haematological evidence of a mild neutrophilia and hypoalb uminaemia. Radiographs of the chest demonstrated a concomitant pneumothorax , pleural effusion, and a consolidated area within the left caudal lung lob e. An exploratory thoracotomy revealed this to be a ruptured granulomatous lesion. Subsequent histopathological, microbiological and genetic studies i dentified M. bovis as the causal agent. Clinical significance: Mycobacterium bovis infections should be included in the differential diagnosis of pulmonary disease and pleural effusions in d ogs living in regions of New Zealand known to have a high incidence of myco bacterial infection in wildlife and farm animals.