13 January 2026: Mannheimia pleuropneumonia outbreaks in adult dairy cattle
Updated 14 January 2026
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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Situation
Shrewsbury, Langford, and Penrith surveillance pathology centres have recently been dealing with significant outbreaks of Mannheimia haemolytica pleuropneumonia in adult dairy cows.
Details
At least one of these has resulted in over 10% of the herd being affected, with many of the cows affected having died.
Triggers for these outbreaks can be overcrowding, poor ventilation, cold weather exposure, and mixing heifers with older cows.
We have not identified other obvious stressors or concurrent disease in all the cases and hope to look at the M. haemolytica isolates by sequencing in the future to assess virulence factors.
Action
Some cases can look like Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) which is a notifiable disease, so please bear this in mind and contact APHA Field services if concerned or this is suspected.