Cattle viral diarrhea: symptoms and epizootology, treatment instructions

Viral infections are not uncommon on livestock farms. They can spread rapidly and infect a significant number of individuals. Sick animals are economic losses that are the consequences of a decrease in their productivity, a temporary deterioration in he alth or death. Consider the causes and symptoms of bovine viral diarrhea, forms of the disease, diagnostic methods and treatment methods.

What is viral diarrhea

Viral diarrhea in cows is an infectious disease of cattle, which is characterized by inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract, with characteristic symptoms - fever, diarrhea, rhinitis, conjunctivitis. Abortions are possible in sick pregnant cows.

Epizotology has established that the incubation period of viral diarrhea lasts 6-9 days. Cows can become infected throughout the year, but especially during the cold season. Animals aged 6 months to 2 years are most sensitive to the virus. The death of cows from viral diarrhea can range from 4 to 100% and depends on the number of infected animals in the herd, strain of bacteria, conditions of cows and other factors.

Economic damage

Virus-type diarrhea is one of the diseases that cause great monetary damage to farms, especially with intensive meat and dairy cultivation. In herds that have frequent cases of the disease, the damage is expressed in stunted growth and reduced weight gain, death of calves, abortions in cows throughout pregnancy or infertility.

Cows that have been ill with diarrhea in the initial period of pregnancy (up to 125 days) bring weak offspring or with congenital malformations.Often calves from such cows are born weak, grow slowly, and die from respiratory diseases at an early age. If they grow up and bring offspring themselves, it also remains a carrier of the virus and infects other cows. If infection occurs after 150 days of gestation, the calves will not carry the virus.

Diarrhea in dairy cattle provokes reproductive disorders and various diseases in calves and young animals. Calves massively develop respiratory pathologies and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, adults are more likely to suffer from mastitis, and milk yields are reduced. In meat-oriented cattle, productivity is also reduced due to weight loss as a result of weight loss or a decrease in the growth rate of young animals.

Pathogen and source of infection

The causative agent of diarrhea is a virus of the genus Pestivirus of the Togaviridae family. At t 20 ˚С it can be stored for years, in biological fluids - up to 6 months.He althy cows become infected from sick ones, pathogens at different stages of the disease come out with feces, urine, discharge from the nose and eyes, saliva and exudate secreted from inflamed organs. Virus shedding may continue for up to 4 months after the animal has recovered. Pathogens enter the body of animals through the digestive tract (with food and water) or through service personnel, care items. Infection is facilitated by a large accumulation of cows in one area, their regrouping.

Symptoms of pathology

The disease can occur in 4 forms, which differ in symptoms and duration. There is also an asymptomatic form, in this case it is possible to determine the disease only by detecting specific antibodies in the blood serum.

Sharp shape

In the acute form, the same symptoms are noted as in the subacute, but the depressed state of the animal is added.After another 1-2 days, the temperature rises again, hyperemia of the nasal mucosa appears, mucus or mucus with pus begins to stand out from it. With a strong expiration, the mucus dries up on the muzzle in the form of crusts, erosions form under them. Tears flow from the eyes, catarrhal conjunctivitis appears.

Some individuals may have a dry hard cough. The gums, hard palate, lips, the surface of the tongue and the edges turn red, ulcers form on them, later pus appears in them. Ulcerations may be found on the nostrils, nose, and vagina. Sometimes animals lame. Diarrhea, intermittent or continuous, can last from 4 to 14 days, often ending in the death of the animal. In other cases, acute diarrhea becomes chronic. Feces with diarrhea are liquid, fetid, frothy, with mucus.

Subacute

This form of viral diarrhea begins suddenly, in cows and calves during the day there is fever, tachycardia, shortness of breath, loss or lack of appetite.There may be unexpressed hyperemia, erosion on the oral mucosa, which quickly pass, in some cows - nosebleeds, tears, cough, diarrhea.

Abortive (atypical)

With this form of the disease, cows are aborted, the fetuses have hemorrhagic ulcerations on the mucous membrane, necrosis of skin, brain, lung tissues, inflammation of the skin and amniotic membranes.

Chronic

If the infection becomes chronic, cows gradually lose weight, among the symptoms are hyperkeratosis, diarrhea. Erosions on the mucous membranes usually heal or cheesy-purulent layers appear on them (with complications). In some cases, necrotic tissue changes are found on the mucous membranes of the esophagus, abomasum and intestines.

Diagnosing the problem

To analyze for the virus, different biological material is taken from animals suspected of a disease - blood, feces, nasal swabs, tissue samples from the intestines, lungs, lymph nodes, spleen, trachea are taken from dead or killed animals.Samples of parenchymal organs and amniotic fluid are taken from aborted fetuses.

From viral diarrhea it is necessary to differentiate infectious rhinotracheitis, plague, catarrhal fever, paratuberculosis, foot and mouth disease, necrobacteriosis, hyperkeratosis.

How to treat viral diarrhea in cattle

There is no cure for this disease. Only symptomatic therapy with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs is carried out. If the course of the VD is severe, the animals are slaughtered.

Meat and offal after veterinary examination can be recognized as suitable for processing into sausages. With a positive result, the meat can be processed, the internal organs must be disposed of.The skins can be used after being disinfected in a saline solution. The instructions for dealing with this disease indicate that the best treatment is prevention.

Vaccination schedule

Vaccination of livestock, carried out in a timely manner, significantly reduces the number of sick animals, allows you to control the spread of the virus, and prevents the deterioration of the he alth of cows and abortions. The vaccination program is drawn up by a veterinarian, its purpose is to prevent the birth of calves infected while still in the womb. To do this, cows are vaccinated before mating. Vaccination of cows against viral diarrhea is carried out using live and inactivated vaccines or a combination thereof. The duration of immunity is 1-5 years, depending on the type of vaccine.

Other preventive measures

Viral diarrhea often appears on farms where cows are kept in poor sanitary conditions. To prevent infection, it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness of the room, bedding, inventory and the animals themselves.

Infected calves should be removed from he althy calves immediately and treated immediately. It is important that newborn calves receive high-quality colostrum in the first 12 hours after birth, as it is an excellent source of immune activation. All new purchased animals from other farms should be quarantined for 3 weeks.

Viral diarrhea is a serious infectious disease that can appear in any household. The disease affects predominantly young animals and calves in the womb. Taking into account such a feature of the disease, which has a negative impact on the productivity of animals and causes significant economic damage, it is necessary to provide the livestock with the most correct living conditions, a rich diet, and vaccinate on time.

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