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Updated: Dec 27, 2025

The Bovine Lung in Biomedical Research: Visually Guided Bronchoscopy, Intrabronchial Inoculation and In Vivo Sampling Techniques
Published on: July 3, 2014
Laryngeal chondritis as a differential for upper airway diseases in German sheep
Wencke Reineking1, Teresa Maria Punsmann2, Matthias Gerhard Wagener2
1Department of Pathology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bünteweg 17, 30559, Hannover, Germany.
Background:
Ovine laryngeal chondritis is a rare entity of sheep in the USA, Great Britain, New Zealand and Iceland, but has not been reported in Germany so far. Here, two German cases are reported.
Case Presentation:
Two rams showed severe and progressive signs of dyspnea. Endoscopically, a severe bilateral swelling of the larynx was identified in both rams. Due to poor prognosis and progression of clinical signs one ram was euthanized, while the other ram died overnight. In both cases, a necrosuppurative laryngitis and chondritis of arytenoid cartilages was found at necropsy. Fusobacterium necrophorum and Streptococcus ovis were isolated from the laryngeal lesion in one animal.
Conclusions:
This is the first report of ovine laryngeal chondritis in continental Europe. This entity should be considered a differential diagnosis for upper airway disease in sheep.
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