This report describes an outbreak of black leg in calves in Nova União, Minas Gerais, Brazil, with emphasis in the use of different laboratorial techniques. Clostridium chauvoei was isolated in pure culture, and detected by a fluorescent antibody technique (FAT) and by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique from pure culture obtained from affected skeletal muscle of one animal.
calves; black leg; Clostridium chauvoei; isolation; fluorescent antibody technique (FAT); polymerase chain reaction (PCR)