Vigilance, containment key to healthy herds

Colorado cattle producers are on high alert as a viral cattle disease marches across the region.

Texas, Arizona and New Mexico officials are currently grappling with vesicular stomatitis, a viral disease that is usually not fatal but causes painful lesions around an infected animal’s mouth, nostrils, teats and hooves. These blisters enlarge and break, leaving painful raw tissue and infected animals generally refuse to eat or drink. The disease is significant because it closely resembles foot-and-mouth disease. An infected animal usually returns to normal within 10 days.

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It is unclear how the disease is transmitted, but Colorado Veterinarian Wayne Cunningham said the disease is believed to spread by black flies from Mexico. The disease has had outbreaks in 1995, 1997, 1998 and 2004.

During the 1995 outbreak, farms were quarantined within a mile radius of an infected animal. Now quarantines are applied to an individual farm and are lifted 30 days after the last animal’s lesions heal.

“This is a disease of trade,´ said Brian McCluskey, leader of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service National Surveillance Veterinary Services Unit. “The quarantine affects the movement of animals, and beef producers are unable to meet contracts until the quarantine has been lifted.”

Colorado producers are remaining vigilant to ensure the safety of the products they produce. Diseases such as Johne’s disease, Bovine Virus Diarrhea and others can cost millions of dollars if an entire herd has to be put down.

When the costs associated with rebuilding a herd are factored into the equation, producers understand the importance of acting pro-actively with these diseases.

Les Hardesty, owner of Painted Prairie Farm, a dairy north of Greeley, said he takes every precaution necessary to protect his dairy.

“Infectious diseases have not impacted our facility because we take the necessary precautions,” Hardesty said. “We and most other producers introduce dairy quarantines, and we vaccinate extensively as humans do to maintain our livestock health.”

In a dairy, calves need to be born in an individual, clean stall and then removed from the mother and raised on milk and colostrum that has been tested.

Further prevention of diseases may include testing any new animals and separating sick ones from the rest of the herd. Closing an entire facility from new animals is not feasible in a feedlot situation where animals are turned over every 100 days, and it is not feasible in others because a producer wants to maintain genetic diversity.

“Biocontainment is essential for most producers – it means they may have the disease but they are taking the necessary steps to keep it in check,´ said Frank Garry, coordinator of livestock management, Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

“Producers need to find infected animals they have and get rid of them to minimize the spread of the disease,” he said.

Testing every animal on a farm is economically challenging. The cost of a testing an animal can range from $5 to $20 or higher. Some of the larger operations have more than 2,000 animals.

“The key issue is for a producer to work with a veterinarian and balance their management needs,” Garry said. “They need to make sure they don’t spend their entire bucket of money eradicating what may be a little fish – like focusing solely on mastitis – and ignore other management practices and diseases.”

Animal diseases have a severe economic impact the world over. Diseases like foot-and-mouth, exotic Newcastle, avian influenza and mad cow disease are now part of the everyday vernacular because of the attention given to them by government officials and the media.

“Animal diseases will continue to affect food supplies, trade and commerce and human health and well-being in every part of the world,´ said Mo Salman, director, Colorado State University Animal Population Health Institute. “Recent outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), West Nile virus, foot-and-mouth disease in swine and avian influenza have made headlines and are of concern not only for significant economic costs but for the potential to ‘cross-over’ to humans.”

These diseases have not affected Colorado recently – the state had a West Nile virus outbreak in 2003 – but producers are vigilant to ensure these diseases do not occur in Colorado.

Colorado beef producers are more likely to be affected by Johne’s, bovine virus diarrhea or vesicular stomatitis.

Johne’s disease is a chronic infectious bacterial disease primarily affecting the small intestine of cattle. Symptoms include diarrhea, weight loss with a good appetite, and decreased milk production in dairy cows.

Bovine Virus Diarrhea reduces productivity and increases death loss in cattle. Infected animals have ulcers in the lining of the mouth and intestines, diarrhea, lower weight gain and diminished reproductive ability.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture estimates the financial impact of the diseases to cost the rancher $10 to $24 per cow and in feeder cattle. One persistently infected animal can cause a loss of more than $10,000 per exposed pen. More than 20 percent of cow herds are diagnosed with BVD annually in Colorado.

Kim Lock is the agriculture reporter for the Northern Colorado Business Report. To suggest column ideas contact her at (970) 221-5400 ext. 222 or at klock@ncbr.com.