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When raising pets, you need to know that from time to time they suffer from infectious diseases. Cattle especially often suffer from parasite bites in spring and autumn. One of the diseases, bovine babesiosis, if care is not taken to prevent it, can lead to the death of animals and a decrease in the productivity of the herd.
What is piroplasmosis
Piroplasmosis, or babesiosis, affects cattle almost all over the world. Some sources call the disease Texas fever. The causative agent is considered to be piroplasma bigeminun, which is localized in erythrocytes. Parasites can be pear-shaped, oval, amoeba-shaped, or ring-shaped.
The causative agent of bovine babesiosis enters the blood of a cow through the bite of infected ticks. One red blood cell contains 1-4 parasites, sometimes more. At the beginning of the disease there are only single pathogens, then their number increases significantly.
The viability of cattle piroplasm remains in the blood; outside this liquid it dies after 2 days. The pathogen is capable of rapidly infecting red blood cells of the brain, kidneys, and blood vessels.If you do not start timely treatment, the damage can range from 40 to 100%.
Spread of the disease
As a rule, cattle become ill with babesiosis (pyroplasmosis) in places where there are large numbers of ticks (carriers of pathogens). They exist not only in the Russian Federation, but also in other countries. Outbreaks of piroplasmosis are recorded from time to time in the south of Russia:
- in Crimea;
- in the North Caucasus;
- in Transcaucasia;
- in the Voronezh and Kursk regions;
- in the Central Asian republics.
The main vector of bovine babesiosis is the single-host tick Boophilus calcaratus. Depending on the region, the insect gives 2-3 generations. This is why there can be so many outbreaks of bovine piroplasmosis. The disease begins in early spring (April-May), summer (June), autumn (early August).
Animals that have lived in a certain area since birth suffer babesiosis more easily, as they develop immunity. But imported livestock may die. Old and tired cows are more difficult to tolerate the disease. If animals are pregnant, they often experience spontaneous abortion.
To eradicate the source of bovine piroplasmosis, natural pastures must be treated with special preparations.
A disease outbreak is when a pathogen affects a large number of cattle in a certain geographic area at one time or another of the year.If work on treating animals is not started, the disease may spread to other regions and even countries. The duration of a piroplasmosis outbreak can last from several days to several years.
If at least one case of an infectious disease unusual for this area is recorded in a region, this is also considered an outbreak, which must be reported to the appropriate veterinary services. They will examine the sick animal and take the necessary measures.
Symptoms of piroplasmosis
It is not so easy to determine cattle disease with piroplasmosis (babesiosis) at the initial stage. The fact is that the infection has a long incubation period (10-15 days), during which the number of red blood cells affected by the pathogen increases significantly. This complicates further treatment.
When the incubation period ends, the acute form of bovine piroplasmosis begins in young animals or adults of the herd, you need to correctly identify the symptoms and begin timely treatment:
- Cattle infected with babesiosis begin to lose their appetite, but the animals have a high need to drink.
- Cows and calves have a sharp rise in body temperature to 42 degrees, which is not so easy to bring down.
- In animals affected by bovine babesiosis, weakness is observed, which can be determined by a decrease in the speed of movement, since the cows lie down for a longer time. It is very difficult to raise them, since cows and calves with piroplasmosis do not react to the appearance of the owner.
- In dairy herds infected with piroplasmosis, milk production decreases or lactation stops altogether.
- Pregnant cows with bovine babesiosis may lose their calf.
- Due to increased pulsation, the heart rate increases and heart problems may occur.
- Veterinarians, examining sick animals, note enlarged blood vessels of the mucous membranes. They first become whitish, then yellowness appears in them. Acute bovine piroplasmosis is also characterized by hemorrhages on the mucous membranes.
- It is difficult for animals to keep their heads in the usual state.
- Cows and calves with babesiosis often have watery eyes.
- The causative agent of bovine piroplasmosis can disrupt the intestinal function of cattle. Animals experience constipation or loose stools.
- Changes also occur in the urine: it first turns pink, then becomes dark red. The color is due to the high content of destroyed red blood cells.
- Cattle babesiosis also affects other internal organs: kidneys, liver.
If timely treatment is not started, adult cows or calves weaken, and after extensive hemorrhage in the brain, as a rule, they die. The mortality rate from piroplasmosis can be 30-80%.
An autopsy allows us to understand what happened to animals after infection with piroplasmosis:
- Connective intermuscular tissues, tendons, and mucous membranes of dead animals become yellow.
- The blood is unable to clot because it is diluted.
- There is a strong enlargement of the spleen, kidneys, and liver.
- There is red fluid in the bladder.
- The gallbladder is filled with thick and viscous bile, which is unable to be released into the stomach.
- The heart muscle is most often enlarged by almost 2 times, and edema of the lungs and brain is observed.
Course of the disease
To understand the essence of any disease, you need to know how it progresses and what you need to pay attention to. As a rule, any pathogen has a certain incubation period, which then develops into an acute or chronic form.
Incubation period for the development of the disease
Cattle piroplasmosis (babesiosis) begins from the incubation period. The stronger the animal’s immunity, the longer it will be impossible to determine that it is sick. This period can last 10-15 days. Then comes the acute form.
Strong cows and bulls most often survive if treatment for bovine piroplasmosis is started in a timely manner, but weakened and exhausted ones, as a rule, die. The development of the disease does not depend on breed and gender.
Particular attention should be paid to calves that are not yet 3 months old, since symptoms of babesiosis are practically not observed in them. Young animals under 1 year of age are more susceptible to the causative agent of an infectious disease; if treatment is not started in a timely manner, no more than 50% of young animals survive.
Existing infections can worsen the treatment and survival rate of cattle from piroplasmosis:
- brucellosis;
- leukemia;
- tuberculosis.
In these situations, the probability of death of cattle increases several times.
How does infection occur?
The period in early spring, when cattle are turned out to pasture after winter rest, coincides with the time ticks awaken from hibernation. It is at this time that insects are especially active in waiting for prey. Having grabbed the fur of cattle with their paws, ticks infected with babesiosis slowly move along the animal’s body, looking for a convenient place to bite.
When the operation is performed, parasites enter the bloodstream from the infected tick along with saliva. They immediately penetrate red blood cells and begin to multiply vigorously.
First, each erythrocyte contains 1-4 causative agents of bovine piroplasmosis, then their number increases sharply. Pests that appear in blood cells, along with them, quickly move throughout the animal’s body, affecting various internal organs, including the heart and blood vessels. As a result of the vital activity of piroplasm, red blood cells are destroyed.
Cattle infected with babesiosis continue to be sent out for grazing during the incubation period and during the acute course of the disease. It is impossible to exclude repeated tick bites.
If even a healthy insect bites a cow, it will receive a share of piroplasm and become dangerous. After feeding on the blood of animals, the ticks fall off and lay eggs. Next season, a new generation of ticks infected with bovine piroplasmosis will appear.
Diagnostics
To make the necessary diagnosis, it is necessary to conduct a clinical and pathological examination. To do this, blood is taken from cattle for analysis and examined for the presence of piroplasms in red blood cells. A quick diagnosis and timely treatment will save the animals’ lives.
As a rule, in cattle that have died from piroplasmosis, destruction of 35-100% of red blood cells is observed.
Treatment of piroplasmosis in cattle
If symptoms of the disease are detected or after receiving the results of a test for the presence of piroplasm in red blood cells, animals must be separated from the rest of the herd.They will need increased and high-quality feeding. Animals are also protected from stress, as it aggravates the development of the disease.
Nutritional Features
A cattle patient with babesiosis must have clean water at all times. In addition, the cattle are fed with sour milk, various vitamins and microelements necessary for recovery are added. As a rule, veterinarians recommend copper sulfate, vitamin B12.
Treatment
Most often, ordinary livestock owners do not have veterinary knowledge, so there is no need to self-medicate for animal babesiosis. After examination and blood tests, the specialist prescribes special medications:
- Sterile solution "Trypanblau". It is prepared in single doses and administered intravenously immediately after preparation. The dosage must be taken carefully. The fact is that a large amount of the drug causes the rapid decay of parasites. But the breakdown product returns to the blood again and leads to intoxication of the body. According to the instructions, 0.005 g of Trypanblau is required per 1 kg of live weight of cattle so that the animal’s recovery process proceeds smoothly.
- Since piroplasmosis causes problems with the cardiac and digestive systems, cardiac medications and laxative solutions are needed to restore them.
- "Tripaflavin", "Flavacridine". A 1% solution of drugs is calculated as follows: 0.004 g is enough per 1 kg of live weight. If the cattle’s health worsens, specialists inject 2 times a day after 4 hours and administer the medicine intravenously.
- "Hemosporidin." This 2% solution is injected under the skin 2 times a day, then take a break for a day. Per 1 kg of weight – 0.5 mg.
- "Piroplasmin" – A 5% solution is used in the same way.
- "Azidin." This 7% solution is administered subcutaneously, intramuscularly. Dose per 1 kg of live weight – 3.5 ml.
- "Berenil." This drug is intended for administration to young animals or dairy cows. There is no negative effect on the mammary glands; the milk can be drunk and given to calves, since the substance is eliminated after 24 hours. A 7% solution is calculated in this way: for every 10 kg, 0.5 ml of product is required. Injected under the skin or into the muscle.
Recovered cattle acquire non-sterile immunity, the duration of which is 4-12 months after treatment. Animals do not get sick again because antibodies are formed in the blood.
Forecast
Owners of personal subsidiary plots or farms should use cultivated pastures where there are no ticks for grazing animals. If there is a need to move cattle to a new place where there is a possibility of infection with babesiosis, then the work should be planned for the winter period, when the insects are sleeping.
If the migration is scheduled for the summer, then the animals must be treated 3 times with special acaricidal preparations with a break of 5 days. For this you can use:
- sevin;
- sodium arsenic acid;
- chlorophos.
As soon as an outbreak of piroplasmosis has been noted, preventive injections are given to all animals on the farm. They are injected with “Berenil” or “Trypansin”.
Reclamation and agrotechnical measures help protect cattle from piroplasmosis. It is also recommended to have several plots so that cattle can be grazed in one place for no more than a month.
Dogs and other farm animals found on pastures infected with bovine babesiosis can carry ticks on their fur, which then crawl onto cows and calves.
Prevention measures
Since bovine piroplasmosis is a dangerous disease, mass destruction of animals can be avoided if prevention is carried out:
- If ticks are found on pastures, there is no need to turn out livestock on them. It is better to use cultural areas that have undergone special treatment.
- If there is a need to move the herd to another pasture, then the skin of the animals must be treated with acaricidal preparations and Berenil must be administered to all livestock without exception.
- You need to change the pasture at least 21-30 days.
- The areas adjacent to the farm are treated with anti-tick medications.
Mass infection of cattle with piroplasmosis can lead to death if appropriate preventive measures are not taken. And if animals get sick, then treatment should begin from the moment the first symptoms are identified.
Is piroplasmosis dangerous for humans?
Bovine babesiosis can occur in humans, but is very rare. It's all about different pathogens. Therefore, communication with infected cows does not cause harm:
- A person can calmly clean stalls, clean animals, milk and feed.
- Dairy products are also not dangerous, since it is impossible to become infected with bovine babesiosis from them.
But from the moment cattle are treated for babesiosis, it is necessary to limit the consumption of milk, since medications can adversely affect human health. As soon as the animal is cured, milk, sour cream, and cottage cheese can be included in the diet.
Conclusion
Bovine babesiosis is an infectious disease that can lead to the death of animals. Unfortunately, owners of private farmsteads do not have the opportunity to change grazing areas or treat pastures with special preparations. Moreover, in recent years, ticks have significantly expanded their habitat area.
That is why owners of private household plots, in order to prevent cattle from contracting piroplasmosis (babesiosis), are recommended to treat animals with acaricidal agents several times a season. They can be purchased at veterinary pharmacies.
