Malignant catarrhal fever

Malignant catarrhal fever, an acute febrile virus disease of cattle, causes gastrointestinal and respiratory problems, affects the eyes and the central nervous system, and is frequently fatal. It is usually transmitted by inoculation of infected blood; transmission from beast to beast by contact is unusual.

The disease appears sporadically in cattle in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Brazil and Mexico; is has been recorded, however, in the majority of countries in the world.