Volume 23 • Issue 02 • 2019
Ruralvet - IN The real world
Compiled by Mark Chimes BVSc
Ruralvet is a closed informal internet discussion forum for ruminant veterinarians in Southern Africa.
Membership is controlled very strictly. No advertising or promotion of products is allowed on the forum.
The purpose of this column is to scour Ruralvets and address a topic of conversation in every issue. There is
a lot of valuable practical information being posted on Ruralvets, but it is not available in a manner that is
easy to access.
I have taken the liberty to correct grammatical errors (typos) and translate any Afrikaans comments into
English. Certain paragraphs in the comments that are not relevant or superfluous to this subject have been
omitted.
The information is from an informal discussion forum and is not necessarily backed up by research.
Editor
Corynebactaerium name confusion
C. pseudotuberculosis was formerly known as C. ovis. Corynebacterium pyogenes
first changed to Arcanobacterium pyogenes and lately is known as Trueperella
pyogenes, which implies C. pseudotuberculosis and T. pyogenes are different and
do not cross-protect. The only resemblance is that they both cause abscesses in
sheep and goats.
AvZ – 11 Feb 2018
Being one of the older vets, I am not sure what the
difference between Corynebacterium pyogenes
and Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is
anymore. Maybe the names have changed
already. Is there cross protection if vaccinated
with Glanvac3. I advised a client to vaccinate with
Glanvac3, but according to him, it does not contain
the Corynebacterium which is the problem on his
farm. Can anyone explain this to me please.
MvV – 11 Feb 2018
C. pseudotuberculosis was formerly known as
C. ovis. Corynebacterium pyogenes first changed
to Arcanobacterium pyogenes and lately is
known as Trueperella pyogenes, which implies C.
pseudotuberculosis and T. pyogenes are different
and do not cross-protect. The only resemblance
is that they both cause abscesses in sheep and
goats. Glanvac3 will only protect against C.
pseudotuberculosis (ovis).
AvZ – 11 Feb 2018
Does the Onderstepoort Corynebacterium vaccine
contain both.
MH – 11 Feb 2018
No,
the
Onderstepoort
Corynebacterium
vaccine, which they still call Corynebacterium
ovis in IVS, only contains Corynebacterium
pseudotuberculosis.
The
Onderstepoort
Actinomyces
[Arcanobacterium]
pyogenes
vaccine contains Trueperella pyogenes (All three
names are the same bug). Corynebacterium
pseudotuberculosis vaccines work well, but there
is a lag period before clinical improvement is
seen. This is because the available vaccines stop
new abscesses from forming, but often have no
or little effect on the abscesses that are already
present. It then appears to the farmer that the
vaccine does not work, but please encourage
them to carry on using the vaccine, as the long-
term benefits are good.
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