lometalass":2vk64nq6 said:
:?: I've got a 18-24 month old heifer (approx. 500lbs) that looked healthy 2 weeks ago, now she's drawn down (extremely fast), NO energy, sunken eyes, and some drooling/salivating. I haven't notice any other "outward" syptoms, and she she appeared to be in perfect health at the last pen up. I've got her seperated from the herd, and gave her 22Ml of Duramycin 72-200 - didn't know what else to do. Any suggestions, ideas, or thoughts would be appreciated. I'm on my own in the family cattle business now, for the first time, and would sure appreciate some advise from you "old-timers" or ranchers in-the-know!!!
The drooling is what bothers me.
Rabies in Texas
< Back to Rabies Laboratory |
Rabies continues to be epizootic in Texas. In Texas, as well as the rest of the US, rabies is primarily a disease of wild animals including skunks, foxes, bats, and raccoons. There are three strains of rabies prevalent in terrestrial animals in Texas, the Texas fox strain (TF), the domestic dog/coyote strain (DDC), and the south central skunk strain (SCS). These strains are maintained by intraspecies transmission within the host species with occasional spillover to both domestic and other wild animals. The raccoon rabies strain that is prevalent on the east coast of the United States is not currently found in Texas, but raccoons do get infected as a result of spillover from the skunk, fox, and coyote epizootics. Distinct rabies virus variants are found in insectivorous bats in multiple independent reservoirs of bat species.
The DDC strain of rabies appeared along the Texas-Mexico border in 1989, and quickly became established in both coyotes and dogs in the area. This canine epizootic spread throughout south Texas by the end of 1994. Fox rabies (TF) was nonexistent prior to 1945 in Texas. It first appeared in the eastern part of Texas in 1946 and moved toward west Texas. The epizootic died out in the eastern part of the state and became enzootic in southwest Texas during 1970-80 period. In 1987-88, the epizootic reoccurred and began expanding north and east. By the end of 1994, fox rabies had spread throughout west central Texas. In 1994-95, the Oral Rabies Vaccination Program (ORVP), which had shown success in Canada and Europe against fox rabies, was initiated to combat the canine rabies epizootic in south Texas and fox rabies epizootic in west central Texas.
Facts:
Animal rabies is endemic in Texas.
The majority of the animals tested for rabies in Texas are dogs and cats which are submitted for rabies testing because of their aggressive behavior and / or exposure to humans or pets.
Wild animals such as bats, skunks, foxes, and coyotes are still the primary reservoirs of rabies.
The ORVP has resulted in a decrease in rabies positive coyotes in south Texas and rabies positive foxes in west central Texas.
Educating the public to avoid contact with wild animals, especially dead and downed bats, will prevent human or pet exposure.
Last Updated December 1, 2004
