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KNOXVILLE, TN (June 21, 2001) – A nasty little “bug” killed Millie. The University of Tennessee’s famous Jersey clone died because a rapidly proliferating bacterial infection swept through her intestine, producing toxins as it reproduced. Pathologists with the UT College of Veterinary Medicine report that the virulent pathogen Clostridium perfringens could have killed her within hours after the bacterium’s population spiked. Clostridium is common on dairy farms, which is why dairy cattle are routinely vaccinated against the bacterium. Records show that Millie had been vaccinated against Clostridium, but for reasons that are not clear the vaccine did not protect her against the disease. Millie, a nine-month-old heifer, was found dead in a pasture on the UT Knoxville Experiment Station in the early morning hours on June 4. She was the United States’ first Jersey calf cloned from an adult somatic cell. The toxins produced by the bacterium induced enterotoxemia, or toxic shock, said Dr. Malcolm McCracken, UT veterinary pathologist who helped perform the necropsy. “The toxins are formed in the intestine, enter the circulation and spread throughout the body. Damage was not only to the intestine, but also to the brain and kidneys,” he said. “Although
enterotoxemia caused by Clostridium perfringens is a common cause
of sudden death in sheep in the United States, it is considered
to be a relatively rare cause of sudden death in calves,”
McCracken said. The toxicology reports were prepared by Oklahoma State University, while the clinical pathology as well as virology and bacteriology were performed at UT. Cultures of the Clostridium perfringens have been sent to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona, to identify the specific subtype of bacterium that led to Millie’s death. ### Contact: Patricia Clark McDaniels
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