Nutritional myopathy (NM) in cattle due to deficiency of vitamin E and/
or selenium has rarely been reported from Denmark although Denmark
geographically belongs to a region with low levels of selenium in plants
used for cattle feeding. Here an outbreak with 100% mortality in a flock
of 3 to 5-month-old Limousine calves is reported. After having lost 11
out of the 12 calves in the flock, the owner asked for assistance from the
Large Animal University Hospital at the University of Copenhagen. The
last calf in the flock was transported to the hospital, but it was in a very
weak condition upon arrival. Following clinical examination and collection of blood for follow-up analyses, the calf was euthanized for animal
welfare reasons and necropsied. Necropsy showed widespread muscle
lesions consistent with NM, which was subsequently confirmed by histology. The follow-up biochemical analyses showed highly increased levels of ASAT and creatininkinase. Although NM seems to be rare in
Denmark, veterinarians should be aware of this condition, even in herds
without a known history of vitamin E or selenium deficiency.