Cattle pasteurellosis: causative agent and symptoms, treatment methods and vaccinations

Among the infections that affect farm animals, cattle pasteurellosis is especially dangerous. This is a zoonosis of a contagious type that affects not only cattle, but also horses, sheep, pigs and birds. In addition to livestock, the disease can infect and kill wild animals and birds, such as deer, buffalo, and saigas. Also suffer from pasteurellosis and laboratory animals. Young animals are more susceptible to infection.

Features of the disease

Pasteurellosis differs in that it affects various organs of cows and other animals. When penetrating into the blood through damaged tissues, the infection quickly spreads throughout the body, affecting different parts.This leads to the fact that the disease does not have a pronounced clinical picture, since the cause of the death of animals is numerous secondary diseases. For example, when the lungs are affected, pneumonia develops, the eye develops conjunctivitis, the uterus develops endometritis, and so on.

The special danger of pasteurellosis lies in the fact that the animal has very little time, since microorganisms develop extremely quickly on any nutrient medium. This leads to the fact that the condition of livestock is deteriorating rapidly.

Due to the fact that it is not possible to immediately recognize the cause of the infection, the disease can go far, and the animal can die. In addition, external signs can be misleading by similarities with anthrax, plague and other mass diseases. At the slightest suspicion of cattle pasteurellosis, it is necessary to call a veterinarian and conduct appropriate studies and examinations.

Causes of pasteurellosis

The pathogen that causes the disease is considered conditionally pathogenic, unstable in the environment, destroyed by disinfection and heat exposure.The most common cause of infection is the bite of an animal - wild or domestic, for example, a dog or cat, rodents. Entering the body of the victim along with saliva, the Pasteurella microorganism quickly penetrates into the bloodstream and spreads throughout the body with its current. There he finds a "weak link" - a weakened organ, which strikes.

It can also be transmitted through mucous membranes, such as through the mouth when eating food or grass contaminated with Pasteurella, or through the eyes or urinary organs.

Stages and symptoms of the disease

Pasteurellosis occurs in several forms, which differ in their own manifestations and symptoms. The incubation period lasts from a couple of hours to several days. The forms of the disease are different, but are an immediate threat to the life of the animal.

However, with timely assistance, livestock can be saved. For this, it is necessary to carry out diagnostics and proper treatment very quickly.

At the same time, only an experienced veterinarian can deal with animal problems, since antibiotics are used as medicine.

Spicy

The body temperature is elevated, and the stage can have three forms:

1. Intestinal. Cattle develop digestive symptoms such as food refusal, bloating, constipation or diarrhea.
2. Thoracic (pulmonary). This form is characterized by signs of a cold: cough, runny nose, copious discharge from the nose, wheezing in the chest, and so on.
3. Edematous. With it, parts of the body of a cow or a bull swell, as fluid is retained in the tissues.

Each of the forms has its own manifestations, which must be taken into account when diagnosing and differentiating from other infections.At first, the animal suffers from constipation, then from diarrhea with blood. Nosebleeds may also occur. Vaccination is necessary to save the cow, otherwise the cow will die within 48 hours.

Subacute

Cattle and other animals develop cough and hyperthermia, purulent runny nose, neck and head swell. If we are talking about a dairy cow, milk ceases to stand out. Without treatment, the sick animal will die within two weeks.

Super Sharp

The temperature rises sharply to 41 degrees, in severe cases accompanied by bloody diarrhea. The animal develops pulmonary edema and heart failure. No more than half a day separates him from death.

Chronic

This is the most dangerous and insidious stage, because the animal can be sick for up to 3 months without pronounced symptoms. Manifested by prolonged painful diarrhea, due to which the affected animal suffers from exhaustion and becomes very weak.

How the problem is diagnosed

Diagnosis is difficult, as the clinical picture of the disease is similar to other dangerous infectious diseases. The assessment takes into account the age of the cattle, as young animals are the least susceptible to infection.

Clinical and laboratory studies will be required to obtain a 100% correct answer. To do this, tissue samples, blood samples, smears from the mucous membranes are taken from the animal. When the pathogen is isolated from several sources, the presence of pasteurellosis is considered established.

Rules for treating problems in cattle

In order to avoid mass infections of the entire herd, sick animals are transferred to a separate room, and calves are separated from their mothers.

Infected livestock need warmth and dryness, so the room must be heated, protected from drafts and dryness.

Only a veterinarian can treat a sick herd or a single sick cow, since it is necessary to know for sure that the animal is sick with cattle pasteurellosis. For treatment, tetracycline antibiotics are used ("Tetracycline", "Biomycin", "Terramycin", "Levomycetin", "Streptomycin" and so on). It is necessary to act quickly, because at a number of stages of the disease, the animal has only a few hours to save.

Cattle during treatment and recovery should receive a balanced diet in an easily digestible form. Animals should have free access to clean drinking water.It must be changed regularly, and the containers must be disinfected. The same applies to the entire room. It also needs to be cleaned and sanitized.

Prevention measures

To avoid infection of the herd and the spread of infection, the following conditions must be met:

1. Holding newly acquired animals for at least 30 days separately from the entire population.
2. Keeping livestock and staff quarters clean and regularly disinfected.
3. Availability of change of clothes and shoes for farm staff.
4. Compliance with sanitary and hygienic norms and rules.
5. Inspection of grazing areas, selection of places remote from other cattle pastures.
6. Minimize herd contact with other domestic, farm and wild animals and birds.
7. Feeding animals with clean feed, as well as observing the rules for storing products, including silage, concentrates, compound feed, in a special room in compliance with temperature conditions and expiration dates.
8. Since any animal, including rats, can be a source of infection, it is necessary to regularly deratize premises, as well as poison field mice on pastures used for grazing livestock and in fields sown with grasses for hay.

Preventive measures can help limit infection in livestock, but only vaccinations can fully protect cattle from the disease. Vaccination is carried out every six months, as the remedy provides protection against infection for a period of 6 to 12 months.

If an outbreak of bovine pasteurellosis was noted on a farm or in a personal subsidiary plot, during the year you can purchase new animals only that have been vaccinated and are guaranteed to be protected from infection, as well as safe for the rest of the livestock.

Quarantine

Strict observance of quarantine is a prerequisite for the safe replenishment of the herd. Only by limiting contact with cattle can the latent form of the disease or its incubation period be revealed.

For this, at least a month of separate keeping of new animals is used. During this time, new arrivals need constant monitoring, which will reveal the slightest signs of the disease. In this way, it will be possible to detect not only pasteurellosis, but also a number of other, no less dangerous diseases.

After the quarantine period has passed and the animals show no signs of infection, newcomers can be transferred to the general herd without fear for the welfare of the entire livestock.

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