Neurological diseases of viral origin in cattle in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil: clinical and anatomopathological study

Abstract Studies related to neurological diseases are of great importance in Veterinary Medicine, particularly those involving production animals, such as cattle, due to their wide sanitary and public health significance. Therefore, the current study aims to describe the frequency of occurrence of the main clinical, laboratory, and anatomopathological findings of cattle diagnosed with neurological diseases of viral origin. Screening was performed in the general register of patients diagnosed through anatomopathological and/or complementary examination with illnesses of viral origin, admitted (live or dead) to the Clínica de Bovinos de Garanhuns-UFRPE from January 2009 to December 2019. The information recovered was entered in a database created in the computer program Microsoft Excel 2010®, distributed into clinical, laboratory, and anatomopathological data. The clinical findings on neurological diseases of viral etiology were very varied and non-specific, and the anatomopathological findings, together with laboratory methods, were of fundamental importance for the establishment of the diagnosis. The high frequency of rabies cases in this study demonstrates the importance of this disease for cattle rearing, as well as for Public Health. We emphasize the importance of including malignant catarrhal fever and herpes meningoencephalitis in the differential diagnosis of neurological diseases in the region, as well as the adoption of sanitary measures. Resumo Os estudos relacionados as doenças neurológicas assumem grande importância na Medicina Veterinária, particularmente os que envolvem animais de produção como os bovinos, em virtude da grande importância sanitária e de saúde pública. Nesse contexto, este trabalho teve como objetivo descrever a frequência de ocorrência dos principais achados clínicos, laboratoriais e anatomopatológicos dos bovinos diagnosticados com doenças neurológicas de origem viral. Realizou-se a triagem no livro de registro geral dos pacientes com enfermidades que cursaram com sintomatologia neurológica e que foram diagnosticados através de exame anatomopatológico e/ou complementares com enfermidades de origem viral, os quais deram entrada (vivos ou mortos) na Clínica de Bovinos de Garanhuns-UFRPE no período de janeiro de 2009 a dezembro de 2019. As informações obtidas foram inseridas em um banco de dados elaborado no programa de computador Microsoft Excel 2010® distribuídas em dados clínicos, laboratoriais e anatomopatológicos. Os achado