A disease in Angus calves was characterised by shedding of the epidermis with ulceration and inflammation of the oral mucosa and the skin of carpus, metacarpal-phalangeal joints, phalanges, coronary border, and with partial separation of the hooves. The pathogenesis of these lesions involves a breakdown of intercellular adhesions associated with anomalous development of the desmosome-tonofilament complexes in the basal and prickle cells of the epidermis. The breeding and clinical history suggested a genetic cause. The disease was called ‘familial acantholysis of Angus calves’.
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