Cattle actinomycosis: treatment, drugs are inexpensive, but effective and instructions

Actinomycosis most often affects cattle. This is a disease of a fungal nature, which animals get sick more often in autumn and winter during stall keeping. It is characterized by the formation of tumors in the affected areas. Consider the forms and symptoms of actinomycosis in cattle, treatment with inexpensive but effective drugs, diagnosis and preventive measures.

Where does disease come from?

In cows, actinomycosis affects the lower jaw, head, neck, bones, lymph nodes, tongue and oral cavity, udder. The causative agents are the fungi Actinomyces bovis. They are common in nature, livestock can become infected when grazing or eating hay or straw from cereal crops.

Fungi enter the body of cows through bad teeth, microtraumas on the mucous membranes of the mouth and digestive tract, skin, nipples. In practice, it has been established that at home an animal can become infected when eating roughage (sharp stems injure the tongue or oral cavity, a fungus penetrates through the wounds). The fungus is especially dangerous for a calf during the period when its teeth begin to grow.

In the site of the introduction of the fungus, an inflammatory process begins, a granuloma grows. In the center of tissue formation necrotic, then fibrous tissue appears. The disease progresses, the abscesses open up and form fistulas that do not heal for a long time. The fungus also affects nearby tissues, causing a scar to form. The pathogen can penetrate into the blood vessels, with the blood it spreads throughout the body, including bone tissue, and forms new lesions.

Symptomatics

What symptoms actinomycosis manifests depends on the site of fungus penetration, the ability of the cow's body to resist infection. A common symptom can be considered the formation of actinomycomes in the form of dense, painless, but spreading tumors.

Head and neck injury

Actinomicomas can be located on the lower jaw, on the cheek, on the cheekbone, on the neck near the larynx. The bumps eventually break through (outward or inward), pus flows from them, blood may be mixed with it. If actinomycomas are located on the lower jaw, the animal's muzzle may swell and teeth may fall out, saliva flows from the mouth.

If tumors form on the tongue, it swells up, becomes stiff and falls out of the mouth. If the mouth and gums of the tongue are affected, the cow cannot eat and loses weight, although it does not lose its appetite. This leads to reduced productivity.

Lymph node involvement

An encapsulated abscess forms in a cow's lymph nodes affected by the fungus. Actinomycomas affect the submandibular, buccal and cervical lymph nodes. Tumors are dense, over time, fistulas form from them with the release of pus when an infection is attached.

In some animals, the lymph node masses can resolve, and there is a temporary improvement, but then the actinomycosis returns again. After the abscess is opened, the animal may have a temperature increase for a while, the lesion site may swell.

Udder actinomycosis

Tumors ranging in size from beans to eggs are localized under the skin of the organ or in the depths of the lobes, often the back. They open either outward or into the milk passages. In this case, their contents enter the milk. You can't drink it. The tumor is solid, painless, grows rapidly and can reach large sizes.

Generalized form

Seldom seen in cows. This affects various internal organs - the liver, kidneys, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, ureter.

How to diagnose actinomycosis?

It is impossible not to notice tumors, at least those located under the skin, since they are not small in size. But in order to accurately determine actinomycosis, diagnostics are necessary. For analysis, pus is taken from fistulas, granuloma tissue, sputum, urine, and a biopsy is taken for histological examination. Actinomycosis is differentiated from actinobacillosis, since the diseases are similar in symptoms and course. The difference between them is that in the first case, more often the lesion occurs on the bones, in the second - on soft tissues. Fungal actinomycosis should be distinguished from tuberculosis, osteomyelitis, and simple abscesses.

Cows that have recovered from actinomycosis develop antibodies that can be detected using serological tests. But immunity against the disease is not developed.

Treatment and prevention

Actinomycomas are painless, and therefore do not cause discomfort in cows, except for those located in the oral cavity.But this does not mean that nothing needs to be done. Most animals will not recover on their own, so they need treatment. Therapy should be carried out by a veterinarian, it will be difficult to do it on your own. The prognosis of treatment in most cases is favorable if only soft tissues are affected, if the bones and internal organs are affected, the treatment may be ineffective.

First aid

Before starting treatment, remove the cow from the general herd and put it in a separate stall. It must be dry and clean. Treat the edema with a solution of iodine or antiseptics. There is nothing else to do.

Medical assistance

At the beginning of the disease, iodine preparations are used ("Iodinol", iodine solution, potassium iodide), they are given orally and injected into seals. If the tumor is expressed and has been developing for a long time, intravenous infusions will be required. Antibiotic therapy gives a good effect: every day, Oxytetracycline is injected into the formations of a bull or cow, the course of treatment is 4-6 days, or Polymyxin is injected once every 1.5 weeks.Usually, during this time, the neoplasms have time to resolve. In severe cases, apply "Benzylpenicillin" (animals that are not allergic to the drug). It is important to complete the course of therapy, even if the tumors seem to have disappeared.

If the band of tumors is inflamed, after antibiotic therapy with the use of "Erythromycin", "Levomycetin", "Tetracycline", they are excised together with capsules. Relapses will require re-intervention.

After therapy, you need to wait 3-5 weeks, if actinomycosis does not return, we can assume that it is defeated.

Prevention measures

Stalls of sick animals are disinfected with a 2-3% solution of caustic alkali or slaked lime. Prevention measures: you can not graze cows in areas where outbreaks of actinomycosis are noted, on damp pastures.If possible, steam roughage to soften the stems. So there is a chance that the animal will not prick the tongue, gums or mucous membrane and will not become infected. Plus, exposure to temperature will reduce the number of pathogens, and not only actinomycetes, but many others.

Cow actinomycosis is a dangerous infectious disease that affects cattle during the stall period. Animals become infected by eating hay and straw, on which the pathogen is located - a fungus. Treatment with antibiotics and surgery is usually effective, but not at an advanced stage. Therefore, you need to monitor the animals, and at the first suspicious signs, contact the veterinarian. The drugs used for treatment are affordable and cheap and can be purchased at any pharmacy.

Recommended