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Concurrent infection with Actinobacillus lignieresii and Mycobacterium farcinogenes was detected in slaughtered cattle. The lesions were confined to the retropharyngeal, mandibular and parotid lymph nodes. The actinobacillus granulomas were seen either inside the caseous lesions or between the caseous part and the epithelioid zone of bovine farcy granuloma. In concomitant infections, actinobacillosis was always in the early active phase, whereas in actinobacillosis alone, active as well as healed stages were encountered.

Summary: Fifteen strains of the agent of bovine farcy were isolated from lymph nodes of affected cattle. Quantitative analyses of mycolic acids revealed values that allowed the assignment of these strains to the genus Mycobacterium. The organisms bore a greater resemblance to Mycobacterium farcinogenes than to Mycobacterium senegalense.

The "abscess disease" was described in naturally infected goats for the first time in Sudan. An anaerobic respiratory deficient staphylococcus was isolated in pure form. The biochemical properties were studied. The disease was successfully reproduced in experimental goats.

A case of gas-gangrene myositis on a Zebu cow with association of Clostridium novyi type A and Clostridium sordellii is described. The occurrence of both organisms in the same lesion has been rarely reported and differential diagnosis with blackleg is difficult in the absence of bacteriological tests. An iatrogenic cause cannot be overruled as routine mass vaccination against blackleg are practiced in the area with possible introduction of spores through infection material. Full recovery occurred after four days intramuscular Terramycin shot.

Dual-tuberculin tests were performed on cows of five dairy stations in the cow project of Benghazi (Libya). 3413 cows were tested and 142 (4.26%) were found to show specific tuberculin sensitivity. Most of the reactors (7.9%) were in Abo Garar dairy station. Following the standard interpretation of tuberculin tests, 88 cow (2.6%) were retained, 51 cows (1.5%) were retested and 3 cows only (0.09%) were destroyed from all cows investigated.

Sera were collected from 3753 cows in Benhazi cow project (Libya). The rose bengal, complement fixation and serum agglutination serological tests were employed to test these sera for evidence of brucellosis. The overall reactivity was detected in all (0.3%) cows. The prevalence of the highest reactors (1.0%) was in Abo Atney Dairy Station. In other dairy stations investigated the incidence of brucellosis ranged from zero to 0.3%.

Clostridium chauvoei CH3 and Kad1 strains were found to cause marked changes in the blood parameters during the course of blackleg disease. These changes displayed by CH3 were found to be more marked than the local Kad1 strain. Results of changes in the haematological values in calves infected with blackleg organisms, showed an increase in RBC, PCV, Hb and the total leukocyte count. MCHC and MCH remained within normal range values, however, a terminal significant increase of MCV was obtained. Thrombocytes showed a steady drop after infection to the time of death of the animals.

An extensive survey for bovine farcy covering 14,192 animals was conducted in the Sudan. The incidence of the disease was 31.9 per cent in Western Sudan which is regarded as an endemic area. Animals were examined clinically and at post-mortem. The lesions involved the prescapular, femoral, parotid, retropharyngeal, submaxillary, inguinal and mediastinal lymph nodes. Some animals had farcy lesions in the udder and some developed the pulmonary form of the disease. The disease is slow, but progressive in nature and was more prevalent among adult cattle than calves. Mycobacterium farcinogenes was found to be the cause of bovine farcy in the Sudan. The morphological and biochemical characteristics, and the mycolic acid content of the isolated strains were found to be identical to the reference strains of M. farcinogenes and were quite different from reference strains of Nocardia farcinica from which they were easily distinguished by the presence of alpha-mycolate, alpha'-mycolate and epoxymycolate in M. farcinogenes. Hydrolysis of mycolic acids with tetrabutylammonium hydroxide and the precipitation with toluene and acetonitrile gave good results comparable with acid methonalysis and alkaline hydrolysis. Precipitin lines were detected in the sera of some farcy-infected cattle. Histopathological examination of farcy lesions revealed a severe granulomatous reaction characterized by lymphocyte, macrophage, epithelioid and giant cell infiltration as well as marked fibrous proliferation. These changes were indicative of a progressive disease of the delayed tuberculin hypersensitivity type.