Clostridia cattle: signs and diagnosis, treatment and prevention

Clostridia is a bacterial infection of cattle. Against the background of infection with its pathogens (clostridia), skin and intestinal diseases develop, as well as tetanus and bradzot. The danger of acute bovine clostridium is the rapid development of symptoms that lead to the death of animals. The chronic course of the disease reduces milk yield and undermines the immunity of calves. Clostridia quickly enter the environment and have a high survival rate.

Epizootological characteristics

A favorable environment for the development of clostridiosis is humidity and a temperature of +35 degrees.Often, pathogens colonize black earth soil. The disease is transmitted orally-fecally or through lesions on the skin. According to the method of infection with bacteria, fodder and traumatic clostridiosis are distinguished.

Pathogens

Clostridia are bacteria that form spores. They are anaerobic microorganisms that do not need oxygen for development. The vegetative dividing cells of Clostridium are similar to sticks. Spore cells form inside. They sleep as long as the bacteria get enough nutrition from the environment - carbon and nitrogen.

Spores survive at high temperature, background radiation, in a vacuum and are resistant to toxic substances. They also survive in oxygenated environments.

When nutrient resources are depleted, the vegetative Clostridium cells die off and the bacteria survive as spores. Under favorable conditions, they begin to live again. There are two types of Clostridia:

• pathogenic - enter the body, take root, multiply, cause food infections;
• opportunistic pathogens - live and accumulate in the body, feed, cause food poisoning when immunity is reduced due to other diseases.

The common property of both types of bacteria is to produce and release toxins into the environment. Cattle diseases developing against the background of clostridium:

• botulism;
• tetanus;
• emkar;
• malignant edema;
• anaerobic enterotoxemia.

Necrotic mastitis develops in first-calf heifers with clostridiosis. The disease is accompanied by tissue death, the formation of bubbles with liquid and general poisoning of the body through the blood. Cattle become infected with clostridia through water, feed, soil and manure.In the body of animals, bacteria are concentrated in the intestines and on the mucous membranes. They also enter the blood through wounds.

Mechanism of the infectious process

Spores of pathogenic Clostridia enter the intestines of the animal and begin to form vegetative cells. In the process, bacteria release waste products - toxins that cause poisoning. Poisonous substances also enter the bloodstream and poison the liver, kidneys, nerve and muscle fibers. As a result, acute clostridium develops. Opportunistic bacteria are present in the intestinal microflora and develop in case of inhibition of beneficial microorganisms, for example, after antibiotic treatment.

Clostridia are found in animal feces. Infected manure fertilizes the soil on which crops are grown for fodder or cattle graze.This is how Clostridium is transmitted from sick cows to he althy ones. Bacteria are found in haylage and silage when harvesting rules are violated. Animals that are fed protein are susceptible to Clostridium.

Also, animal proteins contribute to the development of the disease. The spread of Clostridium is a big problem for agriculture, as it causes a chronic course of the disease in dairy cows.

Key Features

Common symptoms of Clostridium in cows:

• lack of appetite;
• no water;
• sluggishness;
• diarrhea;
• manure mixed with blood;
• convulsions;
• off balance.

Signs indicating the type of bacteria and the disease it causes:

• the animal does not see well, cannot swallow food or water, liquid pours out through the nose, saliva flows - botulism;
• hardened muscles, sweat profusely - tetanus;
• swelling, rapid breathing and pulse - malignant edema;
• hot and cold swelling under the skin, crunchy when squeezed, the animal staggers when walking - emkar.

Anaerobic enterotoxemia often develops in calves against the background of clostridiosis. Disease symptoms:

• temperature increase to +42 degrees;
• discoordination;
• muscle contraction;
• rapid heartbeat and breathing.

Calves tolerate emphysematous carbuncle or emcar without edema, but the temperature rises in young and adult animals. The rest of the forms proceed without heat. Chronic clostridiosis is a disease with unexpressed symptoms:

• poor appetite;
• licking water with tongue;
• woolly dull wool;
• non-healing ulcers on tail and hooves;
• no sucking reflex in calves.

Due to high mortality among first-calf heifers and newborns, clostridium causes great damage to dairy farms.

Diagnosis

Infection with Clostridium is determined using laboratory tests. Examination of tissue, faecal and blood samples helps to differentiate toxin poisoning of various types of bacteria from diseases with similar symptoms:

Research method Differential diagnosis Determination of botulinum toxin in the bloodWith food poisoning, anthrax, ketosis, listeriosis With tetanus Detection of Clostridia and their metabolic products in a tissue sample from a woundWith rabies, tetany With malignant edemaStudy of exudate under a microscope, cultivation of microorganismsExclude emkar Anaerobic enterotoxemiaExamine intestinal sample and contents for toxinC pasteurellosis EmkarAnalysis of muscle fibers using microscopy and bioassaySeparated from malignant edema and Siberian oh the plague

	With botulism

Using endoscopy, yellow plaques are found on the walls of the intestine. They indicate pseudomembranous colitis, which also develops when infected with anaerobic bacteria and clostridium. The lab is testing the water and feed given to the cows to determine the source of the infection.

Clostridiosis is established after the death of the animal at autopsy. The disease causes the following changes in tissues and organs:

• bloating, crunching of the subcutaneous tissue;
• muscle inflammation;
• foaming liquid when pressed.

Enterotoxemia is characterized by:

• fluid accumulation in the abdomen;
• thickening of the intestinal walls;
• enlarged lymph nodes;
• hepatic, renal hemorrhage.

Muscles gray as boiled meat and dark thick blood are signs of tetanus or botulism.

Treatment of cattle from clostridiosis

At the first signs of illness, animals are isolated and transferred to a special regime:

• bring into a separate stall;
• change bedding frequently;
• not fed for two days;
• feed small portions of light food from the third day;
• leave water in the bowl and change it often;
• colon lavage.

The room in which there were cows sick with clostridium is disinfected with halogen agents that destroy anaerobic bacteria - with iodine, bromine or chlorine. Medical therapy necessarily includes treatment with antibiotics effective against Clostridium:

• "Ampicillin";
• "Amoxicillin";
• Chlortetracycline;
• "Biomycin";
• Bicillin-5;
• "Sulfadimetoksin";
• "Benzylpenicillin";
• Metronidazole.

Drugs against comorbidities are prescribed after test results and diagnosis:

• botulism - the introduction of anti-botulinum serum on the first day after the onset of the disease, an enema with a solution of bicarbonate of soda - 30 grams per 15 liters of water, sodium chloride droppers, 2 liters twice a day. When depleted, a 40% glucose solution is also administered, and caffeine is used to stimulate the heart. The mucous membrane of the mouth is washed with a solution of potassium permanganate;
• tetanus - administration of a dose of serum 80 thousand AU and symptomatic therapy with chloral hydrate, laxatives and sedatives;
• malignant edema - opening and cleansing of swollen skin with hydrogen peroxide, injections of a 4% Norsulfazol solution intramuscularly, intravenous administration of camphor serum and saline;
• emkar - you can stop the rapid development of the disease with the help of antibiotics. Especially effective is "Penicillin", which is administered 3 times a day. Dead tissue is surgically removed, drained and decontaminated;
• anaerobic enterotoxemia - treatment with antibacterial drugs combined with the introduction of serum and probiotics.

In the event of an outbreak of Clostridium, the farm is closed for quarantine, it is forbidden to export sick animals and import he althy ones. An autopsy of the dead livestock is carried out in separate rooms of the animal burial ground, and then the bodies and samples are burned.

Probability of death

Clostridial survival rate is:

• adult cows - 25%;
• calves - 10%.

Also remain animal carriers of bacteria that do not show symptoms of the disease.

Prevention measures

Against clostridium there is a vaccine that forms immunity in animals in 21 days. Vaccinate cattle of any age. Contraindication is the last month of pregnancy and the period of rehabilitation after sterilization. Preventing the spread of the disease includes:

• maintaining cleanliness in cattle housing;
• disinfection every month;
• feeding quality food from trusted manufacturers;
• mandatory inclusion of roughage in the diet;
• reducing the proportion of protein in the diet;
• study of the epizootic situation and the location of animal burial grounds in the region when choosing a pasture;
• regular hoof cleaning.

At the first symptoms of Clostridium, you need to isolate the animal and call the veterinarian. Botulism and emphysematous carbuncle develop rapidly and cause mass mortality of cattle. Domestic and European farmers fight clostridiosis with the help of probiotics with bacteria that inhibit the activity of anaerobes. The main way to prevent the disease is to disinfect the premises.

Before treatment with halogen products, remove manure, bedding and wash the floor with a disinfectant solution. Clostridia accumulate in deep layers of dirt that antiseptics cannot penetrate.

Prophylactic measure against clostridium is the addition of antibiotics to the feed that kill anaerobic bacteria.But due to the emergence of resistant strains and the detection of drug residues in meat, this method of combating the disease is not effective. In young animals that eat food with antibacterial drugs, immunity is reduced. As a result, antibodies are not produced after vaccination.

Animals that are kept in stalls and fed mainly concentrates are predisposed to an infectious disease. As a result, the metabolism and intestinal microflora are disturbed in livestock. A balanced diet, including concentrated, coarse and succulent food, will help to avoid the development of pathogenic bacteria.

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