This article examines the role of terminological analyses in animal husbandry in the Extreme North province of Cameroon, a domain in which the stakes (food security, public health, other social goals) are so high that it can rightly be considered as strategic and safety critical. Based on data from several focus group discussions, the article analyses terms for cattle diseases and descriptions of these diseases from the standpoint of a term sorting task as well as equivalence relations, synonymy. The analysis unlocks differences in the knowledge structures underpinning and probably complicating communication between veterinarians and cattle farmers. Communication comes across as taking place against the backdrop of, among others, contested synonymy and differences in the intension of terms said to be equivalent interlingually. This backdrop underscores the link between dysfunctional communication among actors in animal husbandry and such social goals as food security and public health.