Dusty Britches
Well-known member
I just put this together for newbies to learn about cattle diseases and how to prevent them. Some of these are regional. For those who wonder what is clostridial, reproductive, and respiratory:
Clostridial Diseases
Description
Clostridial diseases are deadly diseases that strike cattle suddenly, often causing death even before any clinical signs are observed. The bacteria that cause these diseases create spores that are very hardy and can live for long periods of time in the environment, enduring heat, cold and moisture. These spores are extremely common and can easily be picked up by grazing cattle or enter the body through a wound. The bacteria then multiply rapidly in dead tissue and release toxins that travel through the bloodstream. Death often occurs so rapidly that treatment is not an option.
Clostridial diseases affect the animal's muscle (blackleg), liver (black disease or red water) or gut (enterotoxemia or purple gut), depending on which type of bacteria causes the disease.
Some types of clostridia are normal inhabitants of the intestinal tract. Overeating can trigger these bacteria to multiply and release deadly toxins. Botulism, the deadly food-borne disease that affects humans and animals, is a clostridial infection.
Animals affected
Cattle are susceptible to clostridial diseases throughout their lives. Apparently healthy animals with no outward signs of disease are often affected. Young well-fed calves up to one month of age or calves recently put on a high-energy ration are at risk, as are heavier cattle on feed. Any injury, bruising or invasive procedure such as castration, birth or puncture wounds can create an opportunity for these bacteria to invade the body and release toxins.
Common names
Blackleg, purple gut, black disease, enterotoxemia, overeating disease, malignant edema, sord, infectious hepatitis, red water, enteritis, tetanus, botulism
Causes
Clostridium species including:
•Cl. septicum
•Cl. chauvoei
•Cl. haemolyticum
•Cl. novyi
•Cl. perfringens Types A, B, C and D
•Cl. sordellii
•Cl. tetani
•Cl. botulinim
Contributing factors
•Injury
•Castration
•Puncture wounds
•Liver fluke infection
•Abrupt diet changes
•Overeating
Clinical signs
Clinical signs will differ depending on the type of bacteria.
•Sudden death of apparently healthy animals
•Anorexia (loss of appetite)
•High fever
•Port wine-colored urine
•Lethargy or depression, with death occurring in 6–24 hours
•Muscle spasms
•Localized stiffness
•Acute lameness
•Swelling in hip or shoulder with a "crackling" sensation when skin is pressed
Reproductive Diseases
Disease description
Several viruses and bacteria affect reproductive performance.
•Vibriosis – or genital campylobacteriosis – is a venereal disease that is spread from cow to bull and bull to cow during breeding. The disease often destroys the embryo at its earliest stages.
•Leptospirosis or "lepto" is found worldwide, but is most common in warm, wet climates. It is shed in the urine and/or bodily fluids of infected animals. Research shows that Lepto hardjo-bovis is the most common cause of bovine leptospirosis in the United States and is frequently associated with reproductive losses, although an infected animal may not show clinical signs. When vaccinating for leptospirosis, it's important to make sure your vaccine contains a L. hardjo-bovis strain.
•Two viruses – bovine herpesvirus Type 1 or BHV-1, also called IBR, and BVD Type 1 and Type 2 – significantly affect reproductive performance, in addition to causing respiratory disease. IBR causes infectious vulvovaginitis and balanposthitis (IPV-IPB), which can result in abortion or neonatal disease.
•Haemophilus somnus has both respiratory and reproductive effects, including abortion and sterility.
Clinical signs
Most reproductive disease is sub-clinical, with few outward signs of infection. Early embryonic death is common with vibrio, leading to lower conception rates and repeat breeding. Cattle infected with lepto may abort late in gestation, often in the last trimester.
BVD infection causes different outcomes depending on when the cow is infected.
•At breeding: can interfere with fertilization
•Days 42-100 of gestation: fetal death
•Days 42-100 of gestation: infection with a non-cytopathic strain of BVD can result in a weak or persistently infected calf that becomes an ongoing source of infection to other cattle
•Days 100-150 of gestation: congenital defects
Respiratory Diseases
Disease description
The costliest health problem cattle producers face is bovine respiratory disease, or BRD. Disease is often a progression, with multiple causes.
These viruses and bacteria all play a role in the BRD syndrome, and even a mild infection with one pathogen can set the stage for another, weakening the animal's immune system and making it more susceptible to serious infection:
•Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) causes upper respiratory tract infections. It is sometimes called "red nose" due to the lesions and inflammation of the muzzle and nostrils. IBR can cause serious cases of pneumonia when it is complicated by bacterial infection.
•Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) virus is associated with BRD and several other disease syndromes. Based on its genetic characteristics, the BVD virus is classified either as Type 1 or Type 2. Type 2 strains have been implicated in severe disease outbreaks where the animals show hemorrhagic symptoms and death loss approaches 100%.
•Bovine Respiratory Syncyntial Virus (BRSV) invades the cell lining of the trachea and lungs and is commonly found in BRD cases, alone or with other agents.
•Parainfluenza Type 3 (PI3) virus alone causes only a mild respiratory disease, but it is frequently isolated with other pathogens in severe cases.
•Haemophilus somnus is a bacteria that causes pneumonia and is more prevalent in stress situations where cattle are closely grouped, such as in feedlots or sale barns.
•Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica and P. multocida are bacteria often implicated in shipping fever, a type of pneumonia common in freshly weaned calves.
Clinical signs
Mild to profuse discharge from the nose and eyes, coughing, high temperatures, lesions on the muzzle and nostrils, edema (fluid) in lower jaw and neck. Animals affected with severe respiratory disease have so much trouble breathing that they may be unable to eat or drink.
Reduced weight gain is a common and costly effect of BRD in stocker and feeder operations.
Clostridial Diseases
Description
Clostridial diseases are deadly diseases that strike cattle suddenly, often causing death even before any clinical signs are observed. The bacteria that cause these diseases create spores that are very hardy and can live for long periods of time in the environment, enduring heat, cold and moisture. These spores are extremely common and can easily be picked up by grazing cattle or enter the body through a wound. The bacteria then multiply rapidly in dead tissue and release toxins that travel through the bloodstream. Death often occurs so rapidly that treatment is not an option.
Clostridial diseases affect the animal's muscle (blackleg), liver (black disease or red water) or gut (enterotoxemia or purple gut), depending on which type of bacteria causes the disease.
Some types of clostridia are normal inhabitants of the intestinal tract. Overeating can trigger these bacteria to multiply and release deadly toxins. Botulism, the deadly food-borne disease that affects humans and animals, is a clostridial infection.
Animals affected
Cattle are susceptible to clostridial diseases throughout their lives. Apparently healthy animals with no outward signs of disease are often affected. Young well-fed calves up to one month of age or calves recently put on a high-energy ration are at risk, as are heavier cattle on feed. Any injury, bruising or invasive procedure such as castration, birth or puncture wounds can create an opportunity for these bacteria to invade the body and release toxins.
Common names
Blackleg, purple gut, black disease, enterotoxemia, overeating disease, malignant edema, sord, infectious hepatitis, red water, enteritis, tetanus, botulism
Causes
Clostridium species including:
•Cl. septicum
•Cl. chauvoei
•Cl. haemolyticum
•Cl. novyi
•Cl. perfringens Types A, B, C and D
•Cl. sordellii
•Cl. tetani
•Cl. botulinim
Contributing factors
•Injury
•Castration
•Puncture wounds
•Liver fluke infection
•Abrupt diet changes
•Overeating
Clinical signs
Clinical signs will differ depending on the type of bacteria.
•Sudden death of apparently healthy animals
•Anorexia (loss of appetite)
•High fever
•Port wine-colored urine
•Lethargy or depression, with death occurring in 6–24 hours
•Muscle spasms
•Localized stiffness
•Acute lameness
•Swelling in hip or shoulder with a "crackling" sensation when skin is pressed
Reproductive Diseases
Disease description
Several viruses and bacteria affect reproductive performance.
•Vibriosis – or genital campylobacteriosis – is a venereal disease that is spread from cow to bull and bull to cow during breeding. The disease often destroys the embryo at its earliest stages.
•Leptospirosis or "lepto" is found worldwide, but is most common in warm, wet climates. It is shed in the urine and/or bodily fluids of infected animals. Research shows that Lepto hardjo-bovis is the most common cause of bovine leptospirosis in the United States and is frequently associated with reproductive losses, although an infected animal may not show clinical signs. When vaccinating for leptospirosis, it's important to make sure your vaccine contains a L. hardjo-bovis strain.
•Two viruses – bovine herpesvirus Type 1 or BHV-1, also called IBR, and BVD Type 1 and Type 2 – significantly affect reproductive performance, in addition to causing respiratory disease. IBR causes infectious vulvovaginitis and balanposthitis (IPV-IPB), which can result in abortion or neonatal disease.
•Haemophilus somnus has both respiratory and reproductive effects, including abortion and sterility.
Clinical signs
Most reproductive disease is sub-clinical, with few outward signs of infection. Early embryonic death is common with vibrio, leading to lower conception rates and repeat breeding. Cattle infected with lepto may abort late in gestation, often in the last trimester.
BVD infection causes different outcomes depending on when the cow is infected.
•At breeding: can interfere with fertilization
•Days 42-100 of gestation: fetal death
•Days 42-100 of gestation: infection with a non-cytopathic strain of BVD can result in a weak or persistently infected calf that becomes an ongoing source of infection to other cattle
•Days 100-150 of gestation: congenital defects
Respiratory Diseases
Disease description
The costliest health problem cattle producers face is bovine respiratory disease, or BRD. Disease is often a progression, with multiple causes.
These viruses and bacteria all play a role in the BRD syndrome, and even a mild infection with one pathogen can set the stage for another, weakening the animal's immune system and making it more susceptible to serious infection:
•Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) causes upper respiratory tract infections. It is sometimes called "red nose" due to the lesions and inflammation of the muzzle and nostrils. IBR can cause serious cases of pneumonia when it is complicated by bacterial infection.
•Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) virus is associated with BRD and several other disease syndromes. Based on its genetic characteristics, the BVD virus is classified either as Type 1 or Type 2. Type 2 strains have been implicated in severe disease outbreaks where the animals show hemorrhagic symptoms and death loss approaches 100%.
•Bovine Respiratory Syncyntial Virus (BRSV) invades the cell lining of the trachea and lungs and is commonly found in BRD cases, alone or with other agents.
•Parainfluenza Type 3 (PI3) virus alone causes only a mild respiratory disease, but it is frequently isolated with other pathogens in severe cases.
•Haemophilus somnus is a bacteria that causes pneumonia and is more prevalent in stress situations where cattle are closely grouped, such as in feedlots or sale barns.
•Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolytica and P. multocida are bacteria often implicated in shipping fever, a type of pneumonia common in freshly weaned calves.
Clinical signs
Mild to profuse discharge from the nose and eyes, coughing, high temperatures, lesions on the muzzle and nostrils, edema (fluid) in lower jaw and neck. Animals affected with severe respiratory disease have so much trouble breathing that they may be unable to eat or drink.
Reduced weight gain is a common and costly effect of BRD in stocker and feeder operations.
