Encephalopathy caused by maternal deficiency of vitamin A in a calf

Blindness was observed in five calves born from cattle fed only a commercial feed of growing stage and dried rice straws for about two years in a farm in Gyeongsangbuk-do province. Three of them died within a month after birth, and a body and sera of his mother and other 19 cattle were submitted for diagnosis. At necropsy, the calf was very weak and filled with cerebrospinal fluid in the cerebrum. Any histopathological lesion including atrophy of death of optic nerve cells was not observed, but the irregular proliferation such as lace pattern of choroidal cells and lymphocytic infiltration just below choroid was observed. No pathogen was detected as a result of the etiological tests on the internal organs of calves and bloods. In addition, the levels of serum vitamin A in different affected and his mother cattle were all lower than normal. Finally, we determined this case as an encephalopathy caused by maternal vitamin A deficiency in a calf. This report is an extreme example of how important it is to supply adequate s diets and a good quality of hay for each stage of growth in cattle.