Ring Worm, Were does it come from?

[aplusmnt]

We have a Show heifer that has ring worms bad around head area. She started showing them about a Week and half after the guy we got her from dropped her off.
No other animal has them and none on our farm has ever had them. Wondering if she probably had them in dormant state when we got her? Or can she get them from somewhere else besides other cows.
Been treeting her for little more than week now and not getting better. Might miss showing her at our county fair if does not heal up soon. Kind of sucks.

 

[Stella Whyte]

Hi. I think you can assume your new cow has brought the ringworm with her. Did you know that it is also transferable to humans? I had it when I was about 10 having spent every spare minute on my cousin's dairy farm during one summer hols. My cousin came down with it about a week before me so I guess we can say it has an incubation period in excess of a week! It's easily treated in cattle and humans with special fungicidal cream. My doc was thrilled to see a 'real case' of ringworm on me having only ever encounted it in textbooks!!

 

[jerry27150]

they pick it up any place an animal like deer or others have rubbed. put some used motor oil on it to kill it

 

[gbowman]

I had a case earlier this year I used IMAVERAL by JANNSEN this was effective but it takes time reasonable hair cover returned in about 4 weeks and now 12 weeks on is back to normal I sprayed it on ,after dilution using a house plant sprayer which I found a very effective method ring worm spore can lay dormant for years and old wood in old barns is afavourite resting place \I would think yours definitely came with the cow

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

One year, i introduced to my herd through a tractor purchased from a dairyman.
We show cattle & periodically have to deal with it on our showstring. The good news is - it's like a childhood disease - once they have gotten it - the RARELY ever get it again. I say rarely because there will be someone out there that has one get it every year.
Anyway, I find if you take a curry comb & scrape away all the white crusty stuff - scrub til it bleeds - put clorox or iodine on it (I prefer clorox because there is no stain) - they won't like it, it burns of course. Than put vaseline on it - smother it in vaseline. And that's what you are doing - SMOTHERING IT. Ringworm is a fungus & it needs air to survive. I apply the clorox two times (am & pm) than just the vaseline, very often - at least 2X day - but more if possible. As soon as the skin is soft, no sign of dryness, it should pass a vet exam. Some say they want to see new hair growing, but around here most will pass it if its nice soft skin. With the vaseline, the skin softens quickly. I can usually have one ready to go to a show in a week.
the biggest problem is the NEW spots. So you need to get a product to apply to the whole animal for PREVENTION. I always spray my cattle am & pm with water & conditioner, so I add CAPTAIN ( a fungicide for plants) to the mix.

 

[Beefy]

once youve got it youve pretty much got it. it can live in anything the animals touch. wooden fences posts harbor ring worm a lot b/c 1) the animals scratch themselves on it and 2) they get moist when it rains. ringworm tends to flare up when conditions are moist and hazy.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

We have a Show heifer that has ring worms bad around head area. She started showing them about a Week and half after the guy we got her from dropped her off.
No other animal has them and none on our farm has ever had them. Wondering if she probably had them in dormant state when we got her? Or can she get them from somewhere else besides other cows.
Been treeting her for little more than week now and not getting better. Might miss showing her at our county fair if does not heal up soon. Kind of sucks.

All of the other posts are correct - just a reminder note to you. It is NOT 'worms'. It is a fungus and can be treated as others have mentioned. But it is NOT worms. It is called "Ringworm".

 

[Medic24]

As a younger man I was intimate with a young lady who had ringworm on her leg, I should have known better. I too soon developed it on my knees...dont ask me how.

I simply scrape and put bleach on it and then spray the whole animal with diluted bleach spray to help keep the spores down a bit...... very very contagious! :cboy:

 

[DOC HARRIS]

As a younger man I was intimate with a young lady who had ringworm on her leg, I should have known better. I too soon developed it on my knees...dont ask me how.

I simply scrape and put bleach on it and then spray the whole animal with diluted bleach spray to help keep the spores down a bit...... very very contagious! :cboy:

Are you saying that you scrape and put bleach on your knees 8) and then spray "the whole animal", or just spray your knees? Or do you scrape your whole body? :shock: How about yo- - oh, well, never mind! :roll:

 

[DEB]

:?: WE ARE THINKING WE HAVE RINGWORM TO OUR REPLACEMENT HEIFERS. OUR SON MADE A PURCHASE AT ANOTHER FARM OF 3. THEY ALL PASTURED 1 MONTH AWAY FROM OUR FARM. NOW SEEMS TO BE SPEADING TO ALL OF THEM. UNDERSTAND SOME HAVE TRIED MOTOR OIL, VASELINE, CLOROX, IODINE. WE WERE WONDERING IF WE COULD PLACE IODINE IN SPRAYER AND GET THEM ALL. WE HAVE 8 HEAD TO DR AND ARE SEPERATE NOW FROM OUR HERD. IT HAS BEEN VERY DRY GOING INTO SUMMER. ALSO TO THE PERSON WHO USED CLOROX DIDN'T YOU HAVE TO WATCH THE EYES? ALSO WE HAVE BEEN LIMING AND MOWING WEEDS , AS WELL AS TREATING TREES THEY RUB. ANY SUGGESTIONS WELCOME. THESE AREN'T SHOW CATTLE BUT RINGWORM DOES LOOK AWFUL! THANKS, ;-)

 

[Bama]

Insted of putting the iodine in a pump up sprayer use one of those hand sprayers that you pump with a trigger. The ones you find at garden centers that can go from squirt to mist. Set to squirt. One squeeze, one squirt you can reach a long ways. You will waste less with it.

 

[DEB]

THANKS BAMA, WE WILL GIVE GARDEN SPRAYER A TRY. RINGWORM LOOKS BAD ON THE ANGUS HEIFERS THE WORST. WE HAVE BEEN VERY DRY HERE AND GETTING SOME RAIN TODAY SO WE HOPE THIS HELPS SEVERAL AREAS OF OUR CATTLE.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Black hided cattle seem to be more suseptable to ringworm. The good news is that once the ringworm runs its course, they SHOULD never get it again.
I treat cattle with clorox while they are on halter or in a chute, never randomly spray at them - yes it would be hard on the eyes - so will iodine - be careful.
Just spraying with iodine will not get rid of it any quicker than if you let if do it's own thing. Iodine is just one part of the formula. Iodine sprayed on their whole body :shock: MAY stop it from spreading - not sure about that though.
Spraying all the cattle with a fungicide would be better, I think.

 

[Medic24]

Ok, here is the little I know about this....been there done that

Younger cattle are most suseptable, of course they have never been exposed to ringworm and have no immunity.

In order to effectively treat the actual ringworm spots, you should scrape it down to the skin, yes you should see a little blood spotting, use bleach, iodine, or commerical ointment. You should do this at least twice or more if you can.

As far as rain vs. dry.......rain, and any other wet humid conditions help to GROW ringworm (it is after all a fungus).
besides chemical treatment the best prevention and treatment help is sunny dry weather.

It will run it's course in time, should have little long term affect on your cattle besides looking blighted for several weeks.

A good prevention for cattle when you see it spring up, as I stated before, is to spay the bodies with diluted solution of bleach. NO DO NOT SPRAY THE EYES, or the genitala, or any other mucus membrane for that matter.!

And most impotant of all,(yes I know i left the 'r' out of important, sounds better don't it?) don't let it come in contact with you unless you wash off really well soon after exposure, you too are an excellent host for this fungus among us. :cboy: