Anaplasmosis

[HDRider]

Maybe because we have a bumper crop of ticks, but there is a rise in cases of Anaplasmosis.

Does it affect one breed more than another?

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... plasmosis/

 

[Margonme]

Darin Stanfield, DVM, gave an excellent presentation sponsored by the Mason County Extension office on anaplasmosis about 3 years ago. Not many attended. He provided literature which I still have. I don't recall it being more prevalent in any breed.

Many in this area consider the horse fly a major vector but as your reference indicates, it is mainly ticks.

The potential impact of this disease makes the application of a good parasiticide paramount. Only rarely do I see a tick attached to my cows.

 

[TCRanch]

We've had one case & that was 5 years ago before we switched to loose mineral with CTC & we now spray every 2 weeks during high tick/fly season. Amazingly with all the rain ticks haven't been much of a problem this year, primarily the flies. But I don't believe there is anything strong enough to get rid of the horse flies - we spend quality time smacking them on our cows with fly swatters (and I also swoop-catch-n-mash).

 

[Margonme]

We've had one case & that was 5 years ago before we switched to loose mineral with CTC & we now spray every 2 weeks during high tick/fly season. Amazingly with all the rain ticks haven't been much of a problem this year, primarily the flies. But I don't believe there is anything strong enough to get rid of the horse flies - we spend quality time smacking them on our cows with fly swatters (and I also swoop-catch-n-mash).

What is that?

 

[js1234]

Odd, hadn't doctored one for or found a dead confirmed to be Anaplaz in a couple years, have 2 cows in the corrals now and have another dead in the last couple weeks.

 

[arkie1]

Maybe because we have a bumper crop of ticks, but there is a rise in cases of Anaplasmosis.

Does it affect one breed more than another?

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... plasmosis/

HD have you heard of any confirmed cases in our neck of the woods?

 

[KNERSIE]

Maybe because we have a bumper crop of ticks, but there is a rise in cases of Anaplasmosis.

Does it affect one breed more than another?

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... plasmosis/

British breeds are usually more susceptible than anything with even a touch of indicus blood in them.

 

[TCRanch]

We've had one case & that was 5 years ago before we switched to loose mineral with CTC & we now spray every 2 weeks during high tick/fly season. Amazingly with all the rain ticks haven't been much of a problem this year, primarily the flies. But I don't believe there is anything strong enough to get rid of the horse flies - we spend quality time smacking them on our cows with fly swatters (and I also swoop-catch-n-mash).

What is that?

Swoop my hand down the cow as quickly as possible, catch the offending horse fly in my hand & subsequently mash it. It takes skill

 

[talltimber]

Mine usually start to scatter somewhere around the beginning of the swoop stage.

There is a fella in my area with two cases of it a month or so ago. Lost them both. One, he felt like he caught it early enough. She lasted a few days. He was putting ctc in mineral, backrubbers, spraying occasionally.

 

[HDRider]

Maybe because we have a bumper crop of ticks, but there is a rise in cases of Anaplasmosis.

Does it affect one breed more than another?

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... plasmosis/

HD have you heard of any confirmed cases in our neck of the woods?

Yes. My brother was telling me about a few cases. Some folks have lost a few cattle.

 

[Margonme]

Mine usually start to scatter somewhere around the beginning of the swoop stage.

There is a fella in my area with two cases of it a month or so ago. Lost them both. One, he felt like he caught it early enough. She lasted a few days. He was putting ctc in mineral, backrubbers, spraying occasionally.

Darin Stanfield, DVD, stated that no packaged mineral that he reviewed had even close to the level of chlorotetracycline (ctc) to protect against anaplasmosis. He attempted to work out an arrangement with the Hinton Mills company in this region for a custom mineral that provided enough CTC to meet the recommended level. Hinton Mills said it was cost prohibitive. I don't have the number handy but the level of CTC needed in mineral to be effective was several orders of magnitude above the level in most packaged mineral.

PS: minor point. Notice in the reference HD provided, it is an infectious disease of the RBCs. Caused by a reckesttsial parasite.
At least when I was in graduate school, reckesttsials were not treated as bacteria in the same fashion as say Clostridials. Clostridials cause Blackleg and tetanus, etc. You do not refer to Clostridium as a parasite. You do refer to trichomonas as a parasite of the Bull's sheath. Parasites require a live host. Reckesttials function as a parasite.

Edited to add: there is a PDF file on anaplasmosis in beef cattle put out by Texas A&M. I cannot get the URL to come up. But it lists horse flies, stable flies and mosquitos as significant vectors. Says recent studies are indicating ticks are more significant than once believed.

 

[HDRider]

Maybe because we have a bumper crop of ticks, but there is a rise in cases of Anaplasmosis.

Does it affect one breed more than another?

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... plasmosis/

British breeds are usually more susceptible than anything with even a touch of indicus blood in them.

Thanks. I'd heard that. That is why I was asking the breed question.

The only British we have around here are Hereford and Angus. Angus probably makes up the majority.

Are continentals less affected? Limo and Charolais are common around here. Mostly crosses.

 

[Margonme]

HD:

Regarding natural resistance in Bos indicus vs Bos taurus: Found this in a reference.


Parker and colleagues (89) observed a milder anaplasmosis infection in B. indicus cattle than in B. taurus, while other authors did not find any difference (8, 63 , 141).
Parasitaemia with A. marginale is modified by the genotype , B. indicus cattle generating a lower inoculation rate than B. taurus (1 , 6).

Also found this, not specific to anaplasmosis but does indicte better adaptation of indicus influenced cattle to tick borne diseases:

Considerable variation both between and within breeds has been observed for tick resistance, with
well-documented evidence of greater resistance of Bos indicus breeds compared to Bos taurus breeds. Tick load is affected by several genetically controlled morphological traits, such as coat colour and hair type, as well as genes related to the
immune response. Within-breed heritability estimates vary from very low to high.....

 

[Margonme]

Maybe because we have a bumper crop of ticks, but there is a rise in cases of Anaplasmosis.

Does it affect one breed more than another?

http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinf ... plasmosis/

British breeds are usually more susceptible than anything with even a touch of indicus blood in them.

Thanks. I'd heard that. That is why I was asking the breed question.

The only British we have around here are Hereford and Angus. Angus probably makes up the majority.

Are continentals less affected? Limo and Charolais are common around here. Mostly crosses.

HD.
I cannot find anything that suggests a difference in susceptibility between Continental and British. The primary difference is between taurus and indicus.

 

[talltimber]

Mine usually start to scatter somewhere around the beginning of the swoop stage.

There is a fella in my area with two cases of it a month or so ago. Lost them both. One, he felt like he caught it early enough. She lasted a few days. He was putting ctc in mineral, backrubbers, spraying occasionally.

Darin Stanfield, DVD, stated that no packaged mineral that he reviewed had even close to the level of chlorotetracycline (ctc) to protect against anaplasmosis. He attempted to work out an arrangement with the Hinton Mills company in this region for a custom mineral that provided enough CTC to meet the recommended level. Hinton Mills said it was cost prohibitive. I don't have the number handy but the level of CTC needed in mineral to be effective was several orders of magnitude above the level in most packaged mineral.

PS: minor point. Notice in the reference HD provided, it is an infectious disease of the RBCs. Caused by a reckesttsial parasite.
At least when I was in graduate school, reckesttsials were not treated as bacteria in the same fashion as say Clostridials. Clostridials cause Blackleg and tetanus, etc. You do not refer to Clostridium as a parasite. You do refer to trichomonas as a parasite of the Bull's sheath. Parasites require a live host. Reckesttials function as a parasite.

Edited to add: there is a PDF file on anaplasmosis in beef cattle put out by Texas A&M. I cannot get the URL to come up. But it lists horse flies, stable flies and mosquitos as significant vectors. Says recent studies are indicating ticks are more significant than once believed.

He is adding ctc to his mineral I'm sure. We have talked about it before.

Your PS, you are saying that ctc does not aid in prevention of anaplasmosis due to it being a parasite?

 

[Margonme]

Mine usually start to scatter somewhere around the beginning of the swoop stage.

There is a fella in my area with two cases of it a month or so ago. Lost them both. One, he felt like he caught it early enough. She lasted a few days. He was putting ctc in mineral, backrubbers, spraying occasionally.

Darin Stanfield, DVD, stated that no packaged mineral that he reviewed had even close to the level of chlorotetracycline (ctc) to protect against anaplasmosis. He attempted to work out an arrangement with the Hinton Mills company in this region for a custom mineral that provided enough CTC to meet the recommended level. Hinton Mills said it was cost prohibitive. I don't have the number handy but the level of CTC needed in mineral to be effective was several orders of magnitude above the level in most packaged mineral.

PS: minor point. Notice in the reference HD provided, it is an infectious disease of the RBCs. Caused by a reckesttsial parasite.
At least when I was in graduate school, reckesttsials were not treated as bacteria in the same fashion as say Clostridials. Clostridials cause Blackleg and tetanus, etc. You do not refer to Clostridium as a parasite. You do refer to trichomonas as a parasite of the Bull's sheath. Parasites require a live host. Reckesttials function as a parasite.

Edited to add: there is a PDF file on anaplasmosis in beef cattle put out by Texas A&M. I cannot get the URL to come up. But it lists horse flies, stable flies and mosquitos as significant vectors. Says recent studies are indicating ticks are more significant than once believed.

He is adding ctc to his mineral I'm sure. We have talked about it before.

Your PS, you are saying that ctc does not aid in prevention of anaplasmosis due to it being a parasite?

No. The references I read this morning state that chlorotetracyline, oxytetracycline, etc can be used to control anaplasmosis. There are charts in several of the references with levels of antibiotic needed per pound of cattle. If your friend is adding it, it must be added according to the formula that achieves the effective dose.

The comment on it being a parasite is purely academic.

Edited to add: the problem with feeding an antibiotic is getting the desired levels into the animal. All cows do not consume the same amount of mineral. Some cows seem to never approach my minerals feeders. Then the boss cows often guard the mineral to the point that lower tier cows do not get the opportunity to eat.

 

[Lucky_P]

Rambling thoughts...

For effective anaplasmosis control, you must feed 0.5mg CTC/lb body wt/day, throughout the vector season.
The commercial CTC-containing mineral mixes contain enough CTC to provide anaplasmosis control for a 750-lb animal - IF they consume their theoretical 4 oz/day. So... not enough for a 1000, 1200, 1600lb cow... even if she actually ate minerals every day(which many don't).
However, feeding medicated mineral may be about as much as some folks are able to do, and I guess perhaps its better than nothing (but maybe not). Personally, if I were experiencing anaplasmosis in my herd... my approach to control would be vaccination.

Treatment of affected cows calls for injection with a long-acting oxytetracycline product. But... be aware... you cannot get enough OTC in a cow to 'cure' them or 'clear' the infection...you're just trying to slow the organisms down long enough for the cow to ramp up red blood cell production and survive. We used to think that we could 'clear' the infection with two doses of LA-OTC... but that's not the case; it was a faulty assumption based on the really crappy serologic test we had at that point in the past. We now know that those surviving animals will be persistently-infected carriers - potentially serving as a source of infection for the next generation of ticks- and ultimately naive cattle in the herd - but they will not become clinically ill again.

Clinically-affected cows will have been infected 6+ weeks prior to exhibiting signs of illness... so you'd need to think back to what was going on weather-wise/tick-wise/cattle-working wise(you can transmit it from cow-to-cow if you reuse needles), with regard to transmission.
You don't have to have seen big engorged female ticks feeding... males and nymphs are effective biological vectors, and you'd have to look really hard to see them.
While biting flies can serve as a mechanical vector for Anaplasma, they're not very effective at it - though the FL and CA strains are primarily vectored by horseflies, ticks are the primary host in most of the rest of the country. Hornflies mostly spend their entire life on the same animal, so aren't effective at transferring it. Horseflies generally only feed about once every 3 days, so unless they bite an animal and are interrupted and fly immediately to another animal and bite, they aren't a very effective vector.

Producers (or their across-the-fence neighbors) purchasing cattle may 'get more than they bargained for'... with regard to bringing in anaplasmosis(and other diseases)-carriers.

 

[Margonme]

Rambling thoughts...

For effective anaplasmosis control, you must feed 0.5mg CTC/lb body wt/day, throughout the vector season.
The commercial CTC-containing mineral mixes contain enough CTC to provide anaplasmosis control for a 750-lb animal - IF they consume their theoretical 4 oz/day. So... not enough for a 1000, 1200, 1600lb cow... even if she actually ate minerals every day(which many don't).
However, feeding medicated mineral may be about as much as some folks are able to do, and I guess perhaps its better than nothing (but maybe not). Personally, if I were experiencing anaplasmosis in my herd... my approach to control would be vaccination.

Treatment of affected cows calls for injection with a long-acting oxytetracycline product. But... be aware... you cannot get enough OTC in a cow to 'cure' them or 'clear' the infection...you're just trying to slow the organisms down long enough for the cow to ramp up red blood cell production and survive. We used to think that we could 'clear' the infection with two doses of LA-OTC... but that's not the case; it was a faulty assumption based on the really crappy serologic test we had at that point in the past. We now know that those surviving animals will be persistently-infected carriers - potentially serving as a source of infection for the next generation of ticks- and ultimately naive cattle in the herd - but they will not become clinically ill again.

Clinically-affected cows will have been infected 6+ weeks prior to exhibiting signs of illness... so you'd need to think back to what was going on weather-wise/tick-wise/cattle-working wise(you can transmit it from cow-to-cow if you reuse needles), with regard to transmission.
You don't have to have seen big engorged female ticks feeding... males and nymphs are effective biological vectors, and you'd have to look really hard to see them.
While biting flies can serve as a mechanical vector for Anaplasma, they're not very effective at it - though the FL and CA strains are primarily vectored by horseflies, ticks are the primary host in most of the rest of the country. Hornflies mostly spend their entire life on the same animal, so aren't effective at transferring it. Horseflies generally only feed about once every 3 days, so unless they bite an animal and are interrupted and fly immediately to another animal and bite, they aren't a very effective vector.

Producers (or their across-the-fence neighbors) purchasing cattle may 'get more than they bargained for'... with regard to bringing in anaplasmosis(and other diseases)-carriers.

Thanks. Good post. :hat:

Reference the bolded text: I have both those issues. Purchased cattle and neighbor who buys cattle at the Stockyards.

Lucky: you have any advise on a vaccine???

 

[Lucky_P]

Only one Anaplasmosis vaccine currently available, and licensed, provisionally, on a state-by-state basis - available through your veterinarian from University Products, LLC (disclaimer - I do not own shares, nor benefit financially from, any vaccine sold - I'm just recommending it 'cause it works.)
It's an inactivated A.marginale product; initial two-dose series, with yearly booster. Prevents clinical disease but does not prevent infection. Vaccinated animals will test seropositive regardless of infection status. Vaccinates that become infected can still serve as a source of infection, even though they themselves will not become clinically ill.

 

[talltimber]

Through hearing of a train wreck of a neighbor not long ago, Lazy P I believe it was relaying his story of an issue, and reading of other wrecks and warnings, I believe I have convinced myself it would be worth it to change needles every cow. Maybe that will help. I had not heard of a anaplasmosis vaccine though, thanks for the heads up.

Actually, thinking back on our conversation, I believe my friend said the vet was coming to do something with his cattle after the incident. I may have missed the vaccination part of that, thinking there was nothing that could be done except what he was already doing.