Cows Dying

[dugyrios86]

Hi I own a dairy farm in El Salvador Central America, and Im in a pretty critical situation with my cows. Ive had around 50 deaths in my herd since October 2014, the reason for the deaths seems to be anaplasmosis, but after extensive vaccination and deworming the deaths tend to stop for some time then continue, the symptoms of the cows are the following :

- cows are in a very good physical condition, the cow seems in perfect health, we milk her, two hours later her utter is pale, vulva is pale, shes trembling, and has a look on her face as if shes lost or even manic. A few hours later the cow dies. I had an autopsy done and it shows that certain organs of the cows are larger much larger than those of a normal cow.

I really dont know how to asses this I know there are several factors and questions I will have to answer but feel free to ask, the vets in El Salvador cant really tell me much since they are all pretty unethical and corrupt and just want to sell you a 10k treatment that most likely wont work.

I appreciate your time for reading this
Doug

 

[BRYANT]

Anaplasmosis is some bad stuff they make a shot for it that my vet said seem to work pretty good I think its 2 shots like 30 days apart, maybe one of the vets on here can give you some more info,
I had problems with it several years ago now I keep the medicated range meal and even the blocks out for my cattle when the flies are bad. I bet you have a cow that had it at some time but got over it and now she is a carrier of it and if you use a needle on her then reuse it it can be transmitted that way or a fly can transmit it from one to the other

 

[branguscowgirl]

Welcome Doug!
Sorry that you are here under these circumstances. A very dear friend of mine got Anaplasmosis in her herd a couple years ago. It was discovered when cows would go into labor but were not dilating. They were pulling dead calves out and sometimes loosing the cows. Blood tests confirmed diagnosis.
First thing she did was test every cow, then divided positives from negatives. Then vaccinate the negatives. She started feeding tetracycline in the grain. She fly sprayed religiously. And removed the cattle from the "winter" pasture that had ticks. (Some years are worse than others.) She watches for pale vulvas in her black cattle to this day.
As you probably know you don't really "Cure" it, you just keep it at bay until they build up some antibodies. Many older cattle have already been exposed and have antibodies, so they can test positive without having active disease.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Never share needles or use tattoo equipment ect. With out sanitizing first. I have read that it is not really transmitted by flys. Possibly by Mosquitos, but mostly from ticks and equipment.

 

[wbvs58]

In the tropical parts of Australia where cattle ticks are endemic we have Anaplasmosis as one of the 3 organisms capable of causing what we call "Tick Fever." The drug that is effective against all 3 organisms is Imazol (Imidocarb diproprionate) however Oxtetracycline is effective against Anaplasma.
To me the sudden death you are experiencing does not sound like Anaplasma or at least what we see here. Unless you are missing them getting sick earlier and just picking them up when on deaths door but a dairyman is usually in tune with his cattle and I am sure you would pick them earlier if they were indeed sick but for what it is worth what we see is an animal off its feed high fever into the 40's C for a couple of days and the membranes looking progressively paler and some jaundice developing and if not treated progress to dying though I am sure some don develop immunity and recover. It is fairly easy to diagnose even crushside with a thin stained blood smear prefarably capillary blood examined under high power. The spleen is usually enlarged on autopsy and smears from this will show the organism.
We have a very successfull 3 germ blood vaccine for tick Fever however it is mainly used if bringing cattle from tick free areas into tick areas, animals born and bred in tick areas develop immunity as juveniles and it is no problem for them. It is always good to have a few ticks on cattle in these areas rather than keep them tick free.
Ken

 

[Koffi Babone]

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/circula ... sis&alt=sh

What breed of cow are they?
How old are the one that died (1st calvers vs olders cows)?
When did the cows calve/how far into the lactation are they when they die?
What is the average milk production of those that died (high production cows or average cows)?
Any fever?
Do you live in an area that is fairly high in altitude?

 

[BRYANT]

I have read that it is not really transmitted by flys.

Where did you read this at ?
That's a new one on me always thought the big horse fly was one of the main ways it was spread and I don't know of a spray out there that will keep them blood suckers off a cow

 

[branguscowgirl]

I have read that it is not really transmitted by flys.

Where did you read this at ?
That's a new one on me always thought the big horse fly was one of the main ways it was spread and I don't know of a spray out there that will keep them blood suckers off a cow

This came from an article on Cattle network.com. But I have seen other similar statements also. My vet further confirmed that, "cattle would have to be in a very tight group for it to survive on the fly from one cow to the next. It is pretty unlikely to transmit that way."

It is believed that biting flies, like the horse fly, are not highly efficient transmitters of the disease and for transmission to occur between herds, very close contact between cattle of different herds would have to occur as the anaplasma organisms in blood on fly mouth parts are believed to be viable for only a short time. Recently published work suggests that spread by contaminated needles, such as might occur when vaccinating a group of animals, may be more efficient than previously thought.(4)

 

[Koffi Babone]

From the Merck reference:

http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/circula ... sis&alt=sh

"Transmission and Epidemiology

...Mechanical transmission via biting dipterans occurs in some regions."

Bitting flies belong to order Diptera

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly

 

[Lucky_P]

In the USA(I can't comment on other areas of the world), most Anaplasma marginale strains are principally tick vectored.
'Horsefly' transmission is possible, but it's uncommon, and overplayed...but that old saw gets repeated often enough, even by veterinarians who should know better, that it's often accepted as gospel.
Some strains of Anaplasma - particularly some found in FL & CA - are fly-vectored, but in most of the USA, the culprit is ticks.

Biting flies serve only as mechanical vectors. Horseflies generally only feed once every three days or so...the organism doesn't live that long on their mouthparts; additionally, they usually only feed on a single animal at a time, so are unlikely to be very effective at spreading it.
Hornflies spend almost their entire life on the SAME animal. I've seen trials done where they took 4 animals, all infested with hornflies, sprayed 'em with 4 different colors of a non-toxic paint, put 'em together, and disturbed the flies...almost all the flies went right back to the animal they had originally been on.

That said, iatrogenic (human-caused) mechanical transmission is a concern. Studies at KSU showed that 60% of the time, if you stuck a needle in a cow with circulating Anaplasma organisms, you could transmit it to the next cow behind her in the lane, if you used the same contaminated needle.
I've seen cases of anaplasmosis-related deaths in early April...not the typical timeframe...making me think, "I'll bet these folks 'worked' their cows about 6 weeks ago...and they're not changing needles between animals."

 

[BRYANT]

In the USA(I can't comment on other areas of the world), most Anaplasma marginale strains are principally tick vectored. 'Horsefly' transmission is possible, but it's uncommon, and overplayed...but that old saw gets repeated often enough, even by veterinarians who should know better, that it's often accepted as gospel.

The vet I use is where I got my horsefly info from
so they only eat every 3 days but what happens if they land on cow #1 that is infected with it and only gets half full before she swats it with her tail or rubes against a tree so it flies a few feet and finishes off its 3 day meal on cow #2 you all are saying she is safe right?
I am not trying to debate this it just does not sound right to me??? I'm sure Lucky_P has probably forgot more than I know or ever will know
the place I had troubles a few years ago is over run with horseflys I feel sorry for the cows on this place in late summer but don't know what to do about it??

 

[Howdyjabo]

Grass Tetany-- the boogery part sure fits.

 

[Lucky_P]

Bryant, I've seen newspaper/magazine articles, with veterinarians quoted saying that Anaplasmosis is transmitted by horseflies - and that whitetail deer are the reservoir/source. They are WRONG; one I saw recently was by one of my former professors...who should know better, but evidently doesn't.

Again, if you are in Florida or California, some of the strains present there are readily - and commonly - vectored by biting flies. But...again, in most of the USA, ticks are the primary vector - they're ideally suited, and actually 'amplify' the infectious organism as it carries out multiple cycles of replication in the tick's intestinal and salivary gland epithelium.
Yes, if a horsefly bit one cow and was swished away and bit another one, it could conceivably transmit the organism - and this likely happens occasionally, but It's not a significant route of transmission in most of the country.

I have never had a case of anaplasmosis in my herd...so, I do not vaccinate or feed CTC during the fly season. But...if my herd was infected, or I was in close proximity to a known infected herd (it's present in this part of the state), I'd be vaccinating against it.

 

[BRYANT]

Lucky_P, thanks for the info. and yes my cows do get ticks what is the best ways to keep them off

 

[branguscowgirl]

Lucky_P, thanks for the info. and yes my cows do get ticks what is the best ways to keep them off

Fly spray.