IMAGING DIAGNOSIS--BACTERIAL DISKOSPONDYLITIS IN A GOAT

A 3-year-old intact male Boer goat was evaluated for paraplegia. Computed tomography (CT) indicated the presence of diskospondylitis, which had previously not been reported in this species, and significant compressive myelopathy. Chronic bacterial pneumonia, epididymitis, nephritis, and soft-tissue abscesses were believed to result in hematogenous spread of bacteria to the affected disk spaces. Staphylococcus spp. and Archanobacterium pyogenes were both identified from postmortem cultures of the vertebral column.