2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16
Most often, outbreaks of piroplasmosis are recorded in the spring-autumn season. Cows go out to pastures where they encounter infected ticks. The disease is transmitted through the bite of a parasite and can cause a decrease in herd productivity. In some cases, the death of livestock occurs. To prevent economic losses, it is necessary to carry out preventive measures.
What is piroplasmosis
Cattle piroplasmosis is widespread in most countries of the planet. The disease has another name - Texas fever. In order to understand what kind of disease it is, you need to familiarize yourself with the etiology of bovine piroplasmosis.
There are several pathogens, all of which are transmitted to a cow through the bite of an infected tick. Their localization is in erythrocytes. Pathogens are pear-shaped, oval, amoeba-shaped, ring-shaped. Most often, they are found in an erythrocyte from 1 to 4 pieces, but sometimes more. Out of blood they can live no moretwo days. Piroplasmosis causes damage from 5 to 15% of red blood cells. In some cases, this figure reaches 40-100%.
Piroplasmosis is a viral disease that most often occurs in an acute form. It is characterized by yellowness of the mucous membranes, a rise in temperature, disruption of the heart and gastrointestinal tract.
Incubation period for disease development
The incubation period may vary depending on the he alth of the livestock. It usually takes 10 to 15 days, after which the disease becomes acute. The better the cow's immunity, the later the owner will notice frightening signs in her.
If the animal is exhausted, then even with the timely start of treatment, its death is possible. Young cows and bulls are especially susceptible to the disease. Susceptibility to piroplasms does not depend on the breed or sex of the animal.
Calves under 3 months old get sick with almost no symptoms. Older young animals under the age of one year are especially susceptible to bovine piroplasmosis. This group of animals always recorded the highest percentage of livestock deaths.
If a cow has other dangerous diseases, such as brucellosis, leukemia or tuberculosis, then the likelihood of her death increases. After recovery, the animals are carriers of bovine piroplasmosis parasites for 2-3 years.
Signs of disease
After the end of the incubation period, symptoms of piroplasmosis in cattle begin to appear. Infected cattle have a reduced need for food, they begin to drink a lot. Cows have a feverreduce milk yield by 60-80 percent. Sometimes, after a disease with piroplasmosis of cattle, lactation completely stops in animals. Pregnant cows quite often lose offspring, especially if the gestation period is short. The temperature of sick animals is kept at around 40-42 degrees Celsius.
Cattle urine turns pinkish and then black or dark red. Cows become lethargic, depressed, inactive. Sick cattle lose weight, refuse to get up, do not respond to the owner. His mucous membranes first turn white and then turn yellow.
Later, cardiac pathologies begin to develop, the pulse rises noticeably. With piroplasmosis of cattle, the work of the gastrointestinal tract is disturbed, the animal then has diarrhea, then constipation occurs. If treatment is not started in a timely manner, then the sick cattle become weaker and weaker, and then die. Mortality from piroplasmosis in cattle ranges from 30 to 80 percent.
Routes of infection
The most dangerous time is the first weeks of pasture cows. Ticks have recently awakened from hibernation and are beginning to hunt down their prey. The insect clings to the cow, finds the most attractive place to bite and produces it. Together with saliva, microscopic parasites enter the resulting wound, which cause the disease. The piroplasms rush to the red blood cells and infect them.
Parasites begin to multiply in the body of a cow. When there are a lot of piroplasms, they disrupt the work of the heart and blood vessels. With the blood flow, a huge amount movesparasites, as well as destroyed red blood cells. This causes an increase in temperature, intoxication and inactivity of livestock. When the liver stops coping, the kidneys are affected, which is why the urine becomes dark.
If an infected cow continues to go to the pasture, he althy ticks can re-bite her there. In doing so, they will ingest the microorganisms that inhabit the animal's circulatory system and become infected. After being saturated with blood, the ticks fall off. The next year, the eggs they lay will hatch into infected insects. Young ticks will be ready to infect new livestock.
Diagnosis
In order to confirm or deny the presence of a disease in livestock, you need to invite a veterinarian. One of the methods for diagnosing bovine piroplasmosis is taking blood from a cow. The resulting biological material is sent to the laboratory.
If a cow is sick with piroplasmosis, then erythrocytes affected by pathogens will be found in her blood smears. From dead animals, material for research is taken within a day, if this is done later, the result will not be informative.
If blood donation is not possible for any reason, the veterinarian will make a diagnosis based on the symptoms. In this case, it is important not to confuse piroplasmosis with diseases similar in clinical manifestations: leptospirosis, anthrax, poisoning with poor-quality feed.
Treatment
Sick animals should be isolated and given fullpeace. It is impossible to overtake such cattle, he may not be able to endure it. Treatment of piroplasmosis in cattle begins with the normalization of the diet and drinking of cows. Food should be easy to digest and not overload the gastrointestinal tract.
Vitamin B12 and caffeine are added to the diet to relieve symptoms. For small calves and dairy cows, the drug "Berenil" is used, it acts sparingly and practically does not affect milk. The process of its complete elimination from the body takes no more than 24 hours. Also, the preparations "Azidin" and "Flavacridine" give a good effect.
Prevention
What should I do if there is cattle piroplasmosis on the farm? Timely start treatment and monitor the condition of sick livestock. But it is best to carry out the prevention of piroplasmosis in cows in advance.
Now there are drugs that can be used to treat livestock before pasture. Some medications need to be applied to cows daily, while others need to be applied once every few weeks. Preparations are selected individually, depending on the age of the animal and its phase of lactation. To apply the product, cattle are sprayed from hoses or bathed in special baths. You can also wipe the cows with a healing solution.
Is there a danger to humans?
People, like cows, suffer from piroplasmosis, but very rarely. This disease has different pathogens for animals and humans. It is impossible to become infected with piroplasmosis through contact with a cow, so the owners, fearing nothing,can be cleaned in places where animals are kept.
It is also impossible to get infected with piroplasmosis through milk, so it can be eaten. However, you should not drink it during the treatment period, as some drugs taken by cows can have a negative impact on human he alth. In this case, it is worth waiting a bit, soon all restrictions on milk intake will be lifted.
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