Wooden Tongue

Wooden Tongue

Wooden tongue is a well-defined disease of the soft tissues of the mouth region in adult cattle. It is caused by A. lignieresii coccobacillus, part of the normal bacterial flora of the upper digestive tract. The bacteria usually invade the skin through a wound or minor trauma caused by sticks or straw or barley awns.
The disease is fairly acute, with swelling in the affected part, under the jaw and in the regional lymph nodes. The clinical symptoms are excess salivation, difficult mastication and inappetance.
The condition is seen either as an outbreak in several animals simultaneously or as an individual case in a single animal, often in association with a diet change (Campbell et al., 1975; Melendez et al., 1999).