Diseases among cattle

There are many diseases that spread among our animals today. Especially in the cattle production industry. These harmful diseases can attack the cattle in various different areas such as respiratory, reproductive, neurological and also among young stock. Managing these diseases can be a frustrating proposition but it is important to be aware of them so when confronted you are able to quickly treat and also prevent for the future.

One serious disease that is among our cattle today is IBR also known as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis. It is actually a bovine herpes virus similar to the one that causes us humans to have cold sores. This virus affects not only the respiratory system but also the reproductive system causing fertility problems in adult cattle causing embryonic death and abortions as a result of infection. Just like cold sores once this virus occurs it can then hide latent and hideaway in the nervous tissue and then come back out and cause disease again or spread onto other cows. This virus lies dormant in the nervous system of the cows and they can carry it for weeks, months and even years. It is often caused by periods of stress just like cold sores in people. When under pressure the virus comes out of the nervous system and begins to replicates and reproduce causing these clinical diseases in cattle. Periods of stress could be housing, calving, change of farm or change of social groups. It is a very infectious virus that can affect all cattle at once in a short time frame. It also targets any age but is usually more common among stock being brought in or stock that has already been affected by IBR in the past. Symptoms of IBR are coughing, lots of discharge from both the nasal passages and the eyes, also the animals become quite depressed. If this virus is among a dairy herd, milk production will decline rapidly and take about two to three weeks to go right through the farm and a little longer for the animals to fully recover. Among beef cattle condition will be lost and take some time to fully regain.

This virus needs to be diagnosed and treated quickly. For this disease you can actually vaccinate against once the cow already has it. Most vaccines only prevent diseases but IBR can be treated by vaccine which will also prevent the spreading among other cattle. Antibiotics is also another effective treatment and will help shorten the length span of the disease. Although vaccines are more effective. IBR is a very serious virus and can even cause death among both beef and dairy cattle. People need to be aware of its symptoms and causes so prevention can be made.