Infectious Disease

Rob Hall continues his look into infectious diseases with Leptospirosis up this month... Lepto is one of the most common causes of reduced fertility and pregnancy loss in cattle. It can also cause milk drop and increased cell counts. The disease is spread mainly through urine of infected animals but also through uterine discharge, aborted material and semen from infected bulls. The infectious organism is then absorbed from these fluids via the mucus membranes, for example the eyes, mouth, nose or reproductive tract. Once the leptospirosis organism is in the cow’s system it travels via the blood to the target [...]

Rob Hall continues his look into infectious diseases with BVD and Fluke up this month... BVD Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVD) is very common in UK cattle, with surveys showing it is present on approximately 95% of farms and that roughly 65% of adult cattle have encountered the virus and have detectable antibodies. Infection is transmitted mostly via faeces but also in secretions from the nose and eyes as well as in the semen of infected bulls. Animals that become infected generally shed the virus for a short period of time before they make antibodies to it and recover. The [...]