- Pérez, Estela;
- Uzal, Francisco;
- de Miguel, Ricardo;
- Rodríguez-Largo, Ana;
- Reséndiz, Raúl;
- Streitenberger, Nicolás;
- Macías-Rioseco, Melissa;
- Gómez, Álex;
- Calvo-Sánchez, Natalia;
- Pérez, Marta;
- Luján, Lluís;
- Asín, Javier
Mannheimia haemolytica-associated abomasitis has been clinically described as a cause of sudden death in lambs, but it is poorly characterized. We describe the pathological features of a severe fibrinonecrotizing abomasitis in 3 lambs that died suddenly. All 3 abomasums had a thickened submucosa due to edema and necrotic areas delimited by bands of degenerate neutrophils with slender nuclei (oat cells) and angiocentric distributions. The overlying mucosa was congested. Myriads of gram-negative coccobacilli were observed within the oat cell bands. M. haemolytica was isolated from the abomasum in all 3 animals and was serotyped as A2 in one of them. Pericarditis and pleuritis were observed in 2 of the lambs. Clostridium spp. were isolated in 1 lamb and detected by immunohistochemistry in the 3 animals, suggesting clostridial co-infection. M. haemolytica should be considered among the differential diagnoses of necrotizing abomasitis in lambs.