Cattle Diseases and Prevention

Flashcards for common cattle diseases, their causative agents, and prevention methods.

Vaccine Available

• (Bacterial)

• Brucellosis

• Blackleg

• Scours

• Leptospirosis

• Shipping Fever

• (Viral)

• IBR

• BVD

No Vaccine

• Mad Cow Disease

• Foot and Mouth Disease

• Johne Disease

• Foot Rot

• Mastitis

• Pink Eye

• Hardware Disease

Brucellosis (Bang’s disease)

Bacteria of the Brucella genus that causes abortion and retained placenta in cattle, also zoonotic.

Black Leg

Clostridium bacteria that causes necrotic muscle; cattle are often found dead with no prior clinical signs.

Scours vaccine

Vaccine given to heifer to prevent scours in calves caused by Coronavirus, rotavirus, E. Coli, and/or clostridium perfringens.

IBR/PI3/BVD/ BRSV

Viruses causing pneumonia and diarrhea, including Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Parainfluenza 3 virus (PI3), Bovine Respiratory Synctial virus (BRSV), and Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD).

Brucellosis

• Causative agent: Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, or B. suis ingested through infected placenta, feed, fetuses, tissue, milk or uterine discharge

• Clinical signs: Abortion at 7-8 months gestation, retained placenta, endometritis, infertility, orchitis, and epididymitis

• Diagnosis: Blood agglutination tests, milk ring tests, CF tests, and Rose Bengal test

• Treatment/Prevention:

• Test and slaughter positive animals

• Heifer calves can be vaccinated against it around 3-12 months, vaccine often called Bang vaccine

• Pasteurization of milk kills the bacteria

• Zoonotic: called “undulant fever” in humans

Blackleg

• Causative agent: Clostridium chauvoei which is fpound in the infected animal’s muscles

• Clinical signs: Seen in feedlot cattle, often found dead with no prior clinical signs, necrotic muscle, and distinct rancid smell

• Treatment: If caught early penicillin and NSAIDs

• Prevention: Vaccine is available and is included in 5-7-or 8-way vaccines given after 10 days old or when weaned

Calf Enteritis “Scours”

• Major cause of death in the first few weeks of life

• Causative agent: Caused by multiple bacterial organisms (E. coli andClostridium perfringens) when contracted the first few days of life; often caused by viruses (rotavirus and corona virus) if infected between 10-14 days of life

• Clinical signs: Diarrhea and dehydration

• Prevention: Vaccinate cow (mother) 30 days prior to calving

• Treatment: ManagemenT

Leptospirosis

• Causative agent: Leptospira bacteria

• Contracted through urine or urine contaminated environment. Most commonly found in wet, warm climates

• Clinical signs: Abortion, still births, loss of milk production, septicemia, hemoglobinuria, weak neonates, and reduced fertility

• Diagnosis: Paired serum samples, histopathology, and necropsy

• Treatment/Prevention: Vaccination and antibiotic therapy

• ZOONOTIC!!

“Shipping Fever” or Pasteurellosis

• Broad term for complex disease caused by stress, viral infection, and bacterial infection

• Causative agent: Mannheimia (Pasteurella) haemolyticaand sometimes P. multocida bacteria which are normal flora of the upper respiratory tract

• Clinical signs: Depression, low head carriage, wet cough, open-mouth breathing, respiratory signs, anorexia, weight loss, fever and wheezing

• Diagnosis: Necropsy and culture

• Treatment/Prevention: Antimicrobial therapy and NSAIDs andvaccinate weaned feed lot calves & prevent stress

Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)

• Also known as “Red Nose;”

• Causative agent: Bovine herpes virus I

• Clinical signs: Respiratory signs most common which include fever, ocular discharge, mucopurulent nasal discharge, conjunctivitis, depression, cough and dyspnea.

• Genital form causes abortions and genital tract infections

• Treatment/Prevention: Treat secondary bacterial infections/Intranasal vaccine available for prevention in calves older than 2 weeks or weaned

Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus

• Causative agent: RNA virus of the paramyxovirus family

• Clinical signs: Fever, anorexia, depression, increased respiratory rates, and nasal and ocular discharge

• Diagnosis: Virus isolation and paired serum samples

• Treatment: Vaccines, treat secondary bacterial infections, and supportive

Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD)

• Transmitted in secretions and excretions of infected cattle or from cow to calf in first 4 months of fetal development (results in fetal reabsorption)

• Calf infected during second trimester will be a carrier of the disease for life.

• Causative agent: Virus of the Flaviviridae family

• Clinical signs: Present between 3 and 30 months and include, oral lesions, intestinal ulcers, respiratory issues

• Diagnosis: Virus isolation, immunohistochemistry (ear notches), ELISA, PCR, and microtiter virus isolation

• Treatment: None; prevent by vaccinating calves older than 2 weeks or weaned, must use killed vaccine for pregnant and nursing cows

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) a.k.a. “Mad Cow Disease”

• Degenerative disease affecting the CNS (similar to scrapie in sheep). Transmitted through ingestion of infected meat and bone meal.

• Causative agent: Abnormal protein called a prion

• Clinical signs: Nose licking, teeth grinding, tossing of the head, snorting, aggravation, abnormal posture (dog sitting), difficulty getting up exaggerated external stimuli, low head carriage, ataxic, muscle tremors

• Treatment/Prevention: No treatment, no test, confirmation on necropsy exam of brain tissue. Prevention is by controlling by-product feeding.

Foot and Mouth Disease

• Highly contagious, sometimes fatal disease of cloven-hoofed animals. Transmitted through the air, contaminated animals, facilities, clothes and vehicles; by feeding raw or improperly cooked infected meat or animal products; and through semen

• Causative agent: Virus from the Picornaviridae family

• Clinical signs: drooling from major oral lesions on tongue and hard palate, not eating, depression, lame due to coronary band lesions

• Treatment: None; recovered animals are left debilitated

• Spreads widely and rapidly causing severe losses in meat and milk production, leading to extreme economic loss. Prevention is important!

Johne’s Disease

• Transmitted through contact with infected animals via fecal-oral route (typically around 30 days of age)

• Causative agent: Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis

• Clinical signs:  profuse watery diarrhea, and weight loss

• 4 stages

  • Silent (30 days – 2 years) shed disease, but don’t show signs

  • Subclinical (carrier animals) spread the disease, but not showing signs

  • Clinical start to show signs of disease

  • Advanced clinical when disease worsens

• Diagnosis: Fecal culture, but only 15-25% of those in subclinical stage test positive, biopsy of intestinal lymph nodes can diagnose, Necropsy

• Treatment: None; prevention includes culling infected animals, good hygiene, pasteurization of pooled colostrum and segregate calves from cows until 1 year of age

• Zoonotic: Can cause Crohn disease in humans

Pinkeye

• Also known as infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis or infectious ophthalmia, left untreated can cause blindness

• Causative agent: Moraxella bovis, bright sunlight, irritants, stress, and dry, dusty environments can make the disease spread

• Transmitted: by flies

• Clinical signs: Blepharospasm, lacrimation, photophobia, keratitis, conjunctivitis, and corneal opacity and ulceration

• Prevention: control flies, dust, bright sunlight

• Treatment: Antibiotic therapy and isolation of sick animals

Rumen

Largest compartment of the ruminant stomach, a fermentation vat, also called “paunch”.

Reticulum

The most cranial compartment of the ruminant stomach, also called the “honeycomb”.

Omasum

Third compartment of the ruminant stomach; grinds food.

Abomasum

Fourth compartment of the ruminant stomach, the “true stomach”, and secretes digestive enzymes.

Hardware Disease

• Causative agent: Consumption of a foreign body

• Clinical signs: Decreased milk production and fecal output, increased rectal temperature, normal or slightly elevated heart rate, dehydration, rapid and shallow respiration, walk with arched back, and grunting

• Diagnosis: History and clinical signs

• Treatment: Surgical removal, antibiotics, and magnet

Cow Magnets

Help prevent Hardware Disease in cattle by attracting stray metal from the folds and crevices of the rumen and reticulum.