BCSE (Basic & Clinical Sciences Examination) · USA / Canada · ICVA; administered through CVMA-NEB and AVMA-ECFVG
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersThe viral and parasitic diseases of farm and companion animals, national control programmes and the international role of WOAH.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 07 (Medicine); SAVC Paper 4 State veterinary medicine 35; NAVLE veterinary public health 4%; China infectious diseases 30
NAVLE, BCSE, RCVS SME, AVE, SAVC
Clinical vignettes: a vomiting unvaccinated puppy, a kitten with intention tremor, a dog with myoclonus, a horse with ataxia and urine dribbling, a lame drooling cow (report first), a bitten owner and a 10-day observation, heartworm screening, FAMACHA and anthelmintic resistance, and when to call the state or federal veterinarian.
How our questions for BCSE spread across the units of Preventive Veterinary Medicine II: Viral and Parasitic Diseases. Difficulty: 11 easy, 27 medium, 11 hard.
| Canine distemper, canine parvovirus and infectious canine hepatitis | 6 | |
| Helminthoses | 6 | |
| Rabies | 5 | |
| Viral diseases of horses | 5 | |
| Babesiosis and theileriosis | 5 | |
| Foot-and-mouth disease | 4 | |
| Bovine viral diarrhoea | 4 | |
| Feline panleukopenia | 3 | |
| Peste des petits ruminants | 2 | |
| Lumpy skin disease | 2 | |
| Bluetongue | 2 | |
| Classical and African swine fever | 2 | |
| Pox diseases | 1 | |
| Trypanosomosis | 1 | |
| National disease control programmes: FMD, brucellosis, rabies, HS and BQ | 1 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
In an FMD epidemic, which species is described as the 'amplifier' host and why?
A. Pigs: they exhale far more airborne virus
Pigs excrete very large quantities of virus in aerosol and so amplify spread. Cattle are the indicator hosts (most susceptible to inhaled virus, clear signs); sheep are maintenance hosts with mild signs; buffalo are long-term carriers, which is a different role.
In pigs, vesicles on the snout and feet cannot be attributed to FMD on clinical grounds. Which disease produces identical lesions?
D. Swine vesicular disease
Swine vesicular disease, vesicular stomatitis, vesicular exanthema and Senecavirus A all cause vesicles indistinguishable from FMD, so every vesicular disease in pigs is reported. Erysipelas causes raised diamond-shaped skin lesions, not vesicles.
A flock of goats bought at a market develops fever, matted eyelids, foul-smelling erosions on the gums, profuse diarrhoea and coughing; several die. Which disease is most likely?
D. Peste des petits ruminants
Fever, oculonasal discharge, erosive stomatitis, diarrhoea and pneumonia together form the stomatitis-pneumoenteritis syndrome of PPR. CCPP causes pneumonia without the oral erosions and diarrhoea; orf causes proliferative scabs on the lips, not necrotic stomatitis with diarrhoea.
Which sample and test are most appropriate to detect current bluetongue infection in a febrile ewe?
B. Whole blood in EDTA for RT-PCR
RT-PCR on EDTA blood detects viral RNA in the viraemic animal. A single cELISA shows exposure, not current infection, and may be negative early. Faecal sedimentation and skin scrapings are parasitological tests.
A farmer calls about a cow that is bellowing, straining and drooling, and he thinks something is stuck in her throat. What is the most important first step?
D. Treat rabies as possible and do not examine the mouth without gloves and protection
Rabid cattle often bellow, strain and salivate and mimic choke, which is a classic route of human exposure. Rabies must be considered before anyone puts a bare hand in the mouth. Passing a tube or giving calcium without that consideration exposes people and misses the diagnosis.
A clinic needs 5 L of disinfectant at 0.2% sodium hypochlorite to clean a parvovirus isolation ward. The stock bleach is 5% sodium hypochlorite. How much stock is needed?
B. 200 ml
C1 x V1 = C2 x V2: 5% x V1 = 0.2% x 5,000 ml, so V1 = 1,000 / 5 = 200 ml, made up to 5 L with water. 20 ml is a tenfold slip; 1,000 ml forgets to divide by the stock concentration; 2,000 ml reads 0.2% as 2%. Organic matter must be removed first, because it inactivates hypochlorite.
Why does WSAVA recommend that the final puppy core vaccine dose be given at 16 weeks of age or older?
A. Maternal antibody can block vaccine responses until about 16 weeks in some puppies
Maternally derived antibody interferes with modified live vaccines for a variable period, up to about 16 weeks in some puppies, so the series continues every 2-4 weeks until 16 weeks or later. Puppies can respond earlier if maternal antibody is low, and parvovirus commonly infects puppies before 16 weeks.
On a yard, a mare aborts in late gestation and a week later a gelding develops hindlimb ataxia and dribbles urine. Which virus is most likely?
A. Equine herpesvirus 1
EHV-1 causes late-term abortion and equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy with ataxia and bladder dysfunction. EHV-4 causes mainly respiratory disease; influenza causes cough and fever; EIA causes fever, anaemia and oedema.
In the FAMACHA system for small ruminants, which animals are normally drenched?
B. Those with pale to white conjunctivae, scoring 4 or 5
FAMACHA scores the conjunctiva from 1 (red) to 5 (white), reflecting anaemia from Haemonchus. Treating only 4s and 5s (and sometimes 3s) leaves untreated worms in refugia and slows resistance. It does not measure diarrhoea-causing worms.
A survey aims to show freedom from a disease with 95% confidence, assuming that if the disease were present at least 5% of animals in a large herd would be infected. With a perfect test, about how many randomly chosen animals must be tested, all negative?
C. About 59
For a large population, n = ln(1 - confidence) / ln(1 - design prevalence) = ln(0.05) / ln(0.95) = 58.4, so about 59. 20 is just 1/0.05; about 149 is the answer for a 2% design prevalence; 95 confuses the confidence level with a sample size.
Ten here, 49 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to BCSE in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
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