Summer has arrived, and the heat brings with it more concerns for cattlemen. Anaplasmosis is an endemic disease that can effect cattle, and experts shared advice and tips with cattlemen on how to reduce the spread of the disease at Drovers Cow-Calf Cowboy College in Springfield, Mo.
It is more prevalent during flea and tick season.
Symptoms include a high fever, lethargy, dark yellow urine, crusty nose and the whites of their eyes turning yellow, according to Drovers CattleNetwork. Other signs include weakness, decrease in milk production and appetite, aggressive behavior and white or yellow coloration of gums. Pregnant females may abort calves, and bulls can have temporary infertility.
Mike Apley, DVM and professor of Production Medicine at Kansas State University, told the group it’s spread by insect vectors such as ticks and large flies.
Apley said it can also be spread through blood contact, and it can be transmitted through shared needles.
“If you get anaplasmosis-positive animals from an endemic area, and they are carriers, using a needle on a susceptible animal is very likely to spread the disease to the susceptible animal,” Apley said.
Using new needles and pregnancy-checking sleeves are important to reducing the spread of the disease in infected cow herds, according to Apley and Dan Thomson, DVM, professor of Production Medicine at Kansas State University.
“I’m to the point in cow herds that I’m changing sleeves between cows and changing needles,” Thomson said.
The spread of anaplasmosis could cost thousands of dollars, but a new sleeve or needle only costs a few cents.
Thomson recommends in areas where anaplasmosis is endemic that ranchers invest in a new needle and sleeve per cow. But this type of protocol wouldn’t need to be done in all herds. Drovers CattleNetwork reports it’s a good idea to implement this strategy, because more common diseases like bovine viral diarrhea can be spread similarly.
Blood tests can be used to determine if a herd is clean.
Adult animals, like bulls and cows, are more susceptible to the disease. Young animals are better suited to survive anaplasmosis, but they can be carriers of the disease.
Chlortetracycline (CTC) is an option for some ranchers to help control anaplasmosis.
Apley noted that CTC requires a prescription through the Veterinary Feed Directive and approved for anaplasmosis prevention in cows.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved the production and distribution of an anaplasmosis vaccine in Texas and several other states. Apley said he would like to see further research performed on the efficacy of the vaccine.
For more information on anaplasmosis, click here.