Keratitis in reindeer. Relation to bacterial infections

Abstract

In forest reindeer of northern Sweden outbreaks of keratitis regularly appear in the height of summer in connection with marking of the calves.

In forest reindeer conjunctival and corneal lesions, primarily due to foreign bodies and trauma, are found in abundance. In addition, large amounts of different bacteria are present in the conjunctival sacs of clinically healthy as well as diseased animals. It is suggested that the abundance of bacteria and the conjunctival and corneal lesions primarily are a result of the herding conditions of the forest reindeer, and furthermore that they cooperate as etiological factors in the development of keratitis.