THE 10 MOST COMMON ANIMAL DISEASES

 It is important for the farmers to understand the most common animal diseases so as to identify them early and have idea on how to treat them.

Good husbandry, proper feeding, and hygiene are the main contributors to animal health on the farm, bringing economic benefits through maximised production. When, despite these precautions, animals still become sick, they are treated with veterinary medicines, by the farmer and the veterinarian. When farmers treat their own animals, they are required to follow the guidelines for treatment and to record the treatments given.

Animals are susceptible to a number of diseases and conditions that may affect their health. Some, like classical swine fever and scrapie are specific to one type of stock, while others, like foot-and-mouth disease affect all cloven-hoofed animals. Where the condition is serious, governments impose regulations on import and export, on the movement of stock, quarantine restrictions and the reporting of suspected cases.

Vaccines are available against certain diseases, and antibiotics are widely used where appropriate. At one time, antibiotics were routinely added to certain compound foodstuffs to promote growth, but this practice is now frowned on in many countries because of the risk that it may lead to antibiotic resistance. Animals living under intensive conditions are particularly prone to internal and external parasites; increasing numbers of sea lice are affecting farmed salmon in Scotland.  Reducing the parasite burdens of livestock results in increased productivity and profitability.

1.      Anthrax

Anthrax, a highly infectious and fatal disease of cattle, is caused by a relatively large spore-forming rectangular shaped bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax causes acute mortality in ruminants. The bacteria produce extremely potent toxins which are responsible for the ill effects, causing a high mortality rate. Signs of the illness usually appear 3 to 7 days after the spores are swallowed or inhaled. Once signs begin in animals, they usually die within two days.

Hoofed animals, such as deer, cattle, goats, and sheep, are the main animals affected by this disease. They usually get the disease by swallowing anthrax spores while grazing on pasture contaminated (made impure) with anthrax spores. Inhaling (breathing in) the spores, which are odorless, colorless, and tasteless, may also cause infection in animals and people.

Symptoms:

• Sudden death (often within 2 or 3 hours of being apparently normal) is by far the most common sign;
• Very occasionally some animals may show trembling, a high temperature
• Difficulty breathing, collapse and convulsions before death. This usually occurs over a period of 24 hours;
• After death blood, may not clot, resulting in a small amount of bloody discharge from the nose, mouth and other openings

Treatment and control

• Due to the acute nature of the disease resulting in sudden death, treatment is usually not possible in animals even though Anthrax bacilli are clines. Treatment is of use in cases showing sub-acute form of the disease.
• In most cases, early treatment can cure anthrax. The cutaneous (skin) form of anthrax can be treated with common antibiotics.

Preventive measures:

• Regular annual vaccination of animals in endemic areas will prevent the disease from occurring.
• Vaccination may be carried out at least a month prior to expected disease occurrence in endemic areas.
• Never open a carcass of an animal suspected to have died from anthrax.
• Contact a veterinarian immediately if the following symptoms are seen and seek advice on control measures to be adopted.

2.      Black quarter (black-leg)

It is an acute infectious and highly fatal, bacterial disease of cattle. Buffaloes, sheep and goats are also affected. Young cattle between 6-24 months of age, in good body condition are mostly affected. It is soil-borne infection which generally occurs during rainy season. In India, the disease is sporadic (1-2 animal) in nature.

Causal organism

it is a bacterial disease caused by Clostridium chauvoei

Symptoms:

• Fever (106-108°F), Loss of appetite, Depression and dullness
• Suspended rumination
• Rapid pulse and heart rates
• Difficult breathing (dyspnoea)
• Lameness in affected leg
• Crepitation swelling over hip, back & shoulder
• Swelling is hot & painful in early stages whereas cold and painless inter.
• Recumbency (prostration) followed by death within 12-48 hrs.

Treatment:

• Early treatment can be possible to complete cure of the animal.
• Consult with veterinarian immediately.

3.      Rabies (Mad dog disease)

Rabies is a disease of dogs, foxes, wolves, hyaenas and in some places, it is a disease of bats which feed on blood.

The disease is passed to other animals or to people if they are bitten by an animal with rabies. The germs which cause rabies live in the saliva of the sick (rabid) animal. This is a killer disease but not every dog which bites is infected with rabies.

When the rabid animal bites another animal or human, the germs which live in its saliva pass into the body through the wound caused by the bite. The germs travel along the nerves to the brain. The time between the bite and the first appearance of signs that the bitten animal or human has been infected can take from 2 to 10 weeks or more. The time taken depends on the distance of the bite from the brain. If the bite is on the face or head, the bitten animal or human will quickly show signs, but if the bite is on the leg it will take much longer for signs to develop.

General signs of rabies

You should first look for the marks of the bite and discover where and when the animal was bitten. All rabid animals show similar signs in the beginning.

• they change their normal behaviour and behave very strangely.
• They stop eating or drinking.
• Male animal will try to mate (mount) other animals.
• there is no change in the body temperature.
• These signs will continue for 3 to 5 days. Then, before it dies, the animal will develop one or the other of two types of the disease:
• the furious (mad) type of the disease makes the animal aggressive and it will bite anything.
• The quiet (dumb) type when the animal is quiet and does not move.

Rabies in the dog

Dogs show either of the two types of rabies.

• a dog with the dumb or quiet type of the disease cannot move. It looks as if it has a bone stuck in the mouth and saliva drips from the mouth.
• rabies in the dog lasts about 10 days before the animal dies. If the animal does not die after this length of time then it may not be suffering from rabies.

Rabies in sheep, goats and cattle

Rabies is characterised by the animals becoming restless and excited. They may bite themselves and saliva drips from the mouth. The most important sign in cattle is that the animal bellows (calls) very frequently and with strange sound. The animals will become paralysed and die.

Rabies in the horse and camel

The horse will show the furious (mad) type of the disease. It will kick and bite and show signs similar to colic. The animal will die after paralysis of the back legs.

In the camel the signs of rabies are similar to those shown by an animal in the rut.

What to do with a biting dog

Remember that not every dog which bites has rabies. If the dog belongs to somebody ask the owner about its normal behaviour. If the dog is showing signs of rabies you must inform your veterinary officer immediately. The dog must be shot and if it has bitten anybody, they must be taken to a hospital immediately for vaccination.

Control of rabies

Dogs in your community can be vaccinated against rabies. You should ask your veterinary service about vaccination against rabies. If there is an outbreak of rabies, the livestock in your community can be vaccinated too.

Treatment (ethnovet practices) :

Leaves of chirchra (Achyranthes aspera) 100gm and onion 50 gm are ground well and smeared over the bitten place. The extract of these ingredients is administered orally twice in a day.

4.      Blue tongue

Bluetongue, a disease which is transmitted by midges, infects domestic and wild ruminants and also camelids, however sheep are particularly badly affected. Cattle, although infected more frequently than sheep, do not always show signs of disease. Virus spreads between animals occurs via the midges of Cullicoides species.

The likelihood of mechanical transmission between herds and flocks, or indeed within a herd or flock, by unhygienic practices (the use of contaminated surgical equipment or hypodermic needles) may be a possibility.

Clinical signs

Sheep : eye and nasal discharges, drooling, high body temperature, swelling in mouth, head and neck, lameness and wasting of muscles in hind legs, haemorrages into or under skin, inflammation of the coronary band, respiratory problems, fever, lethargy.

In cattle: nasal discharge, swelling of head and neck, conjunctivitis, swelling inside and ulceration of the mouth, swollen teats, tiredness, saliva drooling, fever.

Note: a blue tongue is rarely a clinical sign of infection

Control

Inspect stock closely, particularly focusing on the lining of the mouth and nose and the coronary band (where the hoof stops and the skin starts). If an animal is suspected as having bluetongue, it must be reported as quickly as possible. Telephone your local animal health office immediately.

Preventive measures and treatment (ethovet):

Since the animal is not taking any feed the starvation may lead to death. So the animal has to be administered orally the following food. Banana fruits (one) smeared with sesame oil (50 ml) for 2 to 3 times. By this animal will recover little. However, this will not control the disease fully. Next the leaf pulp of “sothukathalai”(Aloe vera) has to be administered daily.

Administering of Aloe vera has to be continued for more days till the animal fully recovers from this disease. By this treatment the infected animal will recover from the disease. The disease will not spread to other animals if all animals are administered with Aloe vera as a preventive treatment. Administering aloe vera also increases the body weight of animals as it is against all intestinal parasite.

5.      Pox

Epidemiology : sheep-pox is a highly contagious disease. It causes a mortality of 20 to 50 per cent in animals below the age of 6 months, and causes damage to the wool and skin in adults. Of the pock diseases, sheep-pox ranks only second to human small-pox in virulence. The disease is transmissible to in-contact goats but not to other species of animals. It, however, spreads slowly.

Symptoms : The disease in characterized by high fever, and symptoms of pneumonia and acute enteritis. Skin lesions appear particularly in parts free from wool, notably around the eyes, inner side of the thigh, udder and under surface of the tail. The internal organs such as trachea, lungs, kidneys and intestines are also affected. The disease results in emaciation and, as already mentioned, frequent deaths of affected animals.

Treatment, prevention and control 

The diseased animal should be treated with palliatives. In the young ones nursing is more important than medication. The infected litter should be burnt and the bedding changed every day. Affected animals should be kept on soft diet. The ulcers on the skin should be washed with potassium permanganate lotion and dusted with boric acid; strict hygienic measures should be adopted.

Preventive measures and treatment (ethnovet)

External application of paste prepared by grinding neem leaves, tulsi leaves each 100 gm and turmeric powder- 50gm sprinkled with sufficient water. Continue for 3 to 5 days. Administer orally the same mixture by diluting with water.

6.      Tetanus

This is an infectious, non-febrile disease of animals and man, and is characterized by spasmodic tetany and hyperaesthesia. This disease is prevalent all over the world.

Transmission

Infection takes place by contamination of wounds. Deep punctured wounds provide favourable conditions for the spores to germinate, multiply and produce toxin which is subsequently absorbed in the animal body. The micro-organism is present in soil and in animal faeces, and is carried into the wound by a penetrating object. The organism is present in the intestine of normal animals, and under some undetermined conditions multiplies rapidly and produces toxin in sufficient quantities to be absorbed and cause the disease.

Symptoms

The incubation period is generally 1-2 weeks but it may be as short as 3 days. Tetanus affects many species of domesticated animals but occurs particularly in horses and lambs; less frequently in adult sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, dog and cats; and rarely in poultry. The initial symptoms are mild stiffness and an unwillingness to move all the animals. More severe symptoms develop after 12-24 hours which are stiffness of limbs, neck, head, tail and twitching of muscles. The spasms develop in response to noise. In terminal stages ears are erect, nostrils dilated, nictitating membrane protruded. Mastication becomes very difficult because mouth cannot be opened, hence the name lockjaw.

Treatment

The treatment is carried out by first injecting antitoxin then treating the wound. Penicillin parenterally is beneficial. Muscular relaxation is achieved by injection of relaxants. The animal should be kept in a dark room and fed with the help of stomach tube.

Control

Proper hygiene and cleanliness at castration and other surgical procedures should be observed. Sheep should be given 2 injections based 3 weeks apart to develop a solid immunity.

7.      Johne`s disease

Johne`s disease is a specific chronic contagious enteritis of cattle, sheep, goat, buffaloes and occasionally of pigs. The disease is characterized by progressive emaciation and in cattle and buffaloes by chronic diarrhea and thickening of the intestine.

Transmission

Under natural conditions the disease spread by ingestion of feed and water contaminated by the faeces of infected animals. The infection occurs mostly in the early month of life. The incubation period extends from 12 months to several years. The animal aged 3 to 6 years mostly suffer from the disease. Affected animals may not show clinical symptoms continue to discharge organisms in faeces.

The organisms persist in pastures for about 1 year. The organisms are susceptible to sunlight, drying and high ph of soil; continuous contact of urine with faeces reduces the life of bacteria. In cattle clinical signs appear mainly during 2-6 years of age. The infected animals which are apparently healthy, often show clinical signs after parturition.

Treatment

the organisms is more resistant to chemotherapeutic agents invitro than mycotuberculosis. Because of this the practical utility of treatment in clinical cases is poor.

Control

The affected animal should be segregated and their faeces properly disposed off. Alive vaccine has been developed. It reduces the incidence of clinical disease. It consists of a non-pathogenic strain of jhone`s bacillus with an adjuvant. The calves soon after birth are inoculated with vaccine subcontaneously. The vaccinated animals become reactors of jhonin. Vaccination is generally done in heavily infected herds.

8.      Footrot

Foot rot is a common cause of lameness in cattle and occurs most frequently when cattle on pasture are forced to walk through mud to obtain water and feed. However, it may occur among cattle in paddocks as well, under apparently excellent conditions.

Foot rot is caused when a cut or scratch in the skin allows infection to penetrate between the claws or around the top of the hoof. Individual cases should be kept in a dry place and treated promptly with medication as directed by a veterinarian.

If the disease becomes a herd problem a foot bath containing a 5% solution of copper sulphate placed where cattle are forced to walk though it once or twice a day will help to reduce the number of new infections. In addition, drain mud holes and cement areas around the water troughs where cattle are likely to pick up the infection. Keep pens and areas where cattle gather as clean as possible. Proper nutrition regarding protein, minerals and vitamins will maximize hoof health.

9.      Bovine rhinotracheitis

Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (ibr) is a highly contagious, infectious respiratory disease that is caused by bovine herpesvirus-1 (bhv-1). It can affect young and older cattle. In addition to causing respiratory disease, this virus can cause conjunctivitis, abortions, encephalitis, and generalised systemic infections. Ibr is characterized by acute inflammation of the upper respiratory tract.

Treatment

There is no direct treatment for viral diseases. Infected animals should be isolated from the rest of the herd and treated with anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics for secondary infections if necessary. Carrier cattle should be identified and removed from the herd.

Prevention

Control of the disease is based on the use of vaccines.

10.  Ringworm

This is the most common infectious skin disease affecting beef cattle. It is caused by a fungus, and is transmissible to man. Typically, the disease appears as crusty grey patches usually in the region of the head and neck and particularly around the eyes.

As a first step in controlling the disease, it is recommended that, whenever possible, affected animals should be segregated and their pens or stalls cleaned and disinfected. Clean cattle which have been in contact with the disease should be watched closely for the appearance of lesions and treated promptly.

Proper nutrition, particularly high levels of vitamin a, copper and zinc while not a cure, will help to raise the resistance of the animal and in so doing offer some measure of control. Contact your vet and or feed store for products to treat this disease. Using a wormer like ivomec will kill lice and help prevent cattle from scratching causing skin damage and a place for the fungus to enter.