Animal-related factors predicting fatal cases of blackleg and gas gangrene in cattle

Background: Blackleg and malignant edema are acute clostridial
infections primarily affecting cattle. The objectives of this study were to
identify i) animal-related factors influencing the occurrence and ii)
prognostic pathological findings supporting the differentiation of fatal
blackleg and malignant edema cases in the cattle population from 1998
to 2018 in Styria, Austria.

Methods: Two binomial logistic models were applied to analyse the
research questions. Additionally, cross-validations were performed to
estimate the accuracy of the predictive models.

Results: Model results show that animal-related factors (i.e. age,
geographical discovery location of dead cattle, vaccination status)
significantly influence the occurrence of blackleg when compared to
malignant edema. Pathological findings are similar for both diseases.

Conclusions: Model results reveal that using animal-related factors has a
better accuracy to predict the fatal cases caused by both pathogens.
Thus, the authors recommend not to rely on pathological findings as
predictive factors in the differentiation between blackleg and malignant
edema in cattle.