Chronic diarrhea in daily, beef could be Johne’s disease
BY SHEILA MILLEK
HARRISBURG - Does your
herd of cattle have one or two head
that seem to have chronic
diarrhea? Are those same cattle
losing weight and falling off in milk
production?
'According to Dr. Max A. Van
Bus kirk, chief veterinarian with
the state’s Bureau of Animal In
dustry, these animals -could
possibly be suffering from Johne’s
disease (pronounced yo' nees).
“Johne’s disease is an infection
in cattle that causes fluid loss and
interferes with the exchange of
nutrients in the gut,” Van Bus kirk
explains. “An animal could be
infected with the disease for
several years before any clinical
signs turn up.”
Clinical characteristics of the
disease include severe scorning
and rapid loss of body condition
resulting in prostration and death.
The appetite generally remains
good until the animal goes down.
Some animals may have in
termittent diarrhea for a period of
time.
The, disease usually starts to
appear in cattle at two years of
age, peaks at three years at the'
time of the second calf, and drops
off rapidly with relatively few
cases after five years of age.
Typically one cow in the herd
will have the disease symptoms,
says the veterinarian, adding a
farmer might only lose three, four,
or six head over a period of 10
years. He points out the disease is
difficult to diagnose and un-
treatable. * / Protect young animals from
Van Buskirk explains a fecal all drainage that may come from
sample can be taken and cultured -the area occupied by adult cattle,
by the state’s diagnostic. Remove any unnecessary
laboratory, however the in- shade from areas occupied by
cubation time for the test is 14 either young clean group or adult
weeks a long time to wait during group. Allow sun to reach any
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which time the disease can spread.
It is passed from animal to animal
by exposure to contaminated feces
in feed and water, he says.
“Johne’s disease can be
managed and prevented if a far
mer detects a problem and adopts
the proper husbandry,” Van
Buskurk states.
The Bureau of Animal Industry
has developed a memorandum of
understanding for controlling and
eradicating the disease with some
of the 100 herd owners in the state
whose cattle show symptoms of
Johne’s disease. The memo calls
for the herd owner to:
i' Remove calves to ‘clean
disinfected quarters’ immediately
after birth. Natural nursing must
not be permitted.
* Thoroughly wash udder and
sides of dam to remove all manure
before drawing colostrum to be
used for initial feedings of calf.
Protect young animals from
all adult feed and manure. Be sure
to wear clean clothing and disin
fect footwear in calf rearing
quarters.
Use only clean utensils for
feeding calves. Use only clean,
uncontaminated bedding. Use
separate cleaning tools such as
shovels and brooms in calf
quarters.
Be sure all feed is not con
taminated.
Pasture young cattle on clean
areas and maintain them in winter
quarters separate from adults
until they freshen before adding to
the milking line.
Confinement buildings
Livestock buildings
Processing plants
Warehouses
Machine shops
Homes
Churches
shaded areas at some tune during
the day.
✓ Fence watei supply ui
remove any stagnant pools. Allow
animals to drink from clean trough
or free flowing streams.
✓ Separate any unthrifty
animals from the herd until con
dition is diagnosed. In routine
chores, handle these animals after
clean animals. Do not return these
animals to the herd unless
possibility of Johne’s disease is
eliminated.
Use only artificial in
semination since bulls can tran
smit this disease during breeding.
The disease-causing organism has
been found to inhabit the seminal
vesicles of 100 percent of infected
bulls examined. The organism can
survive m semen prepared for
artificial inseminatin. (All
Wisconsin based bull studs are
cultured annually and are
negative.)
Maintain adequate nutritional
requirements.
Van Buskirk notes the disease
has been around for more than 20
years and seemed to be more
prevalent in the Guernsey breed at
one time. He quickly emphasizes it
is not limited to this breed of dairy
cattle and can be found in beef
cattle, too.
Once the disease has been
diagnosed through fecal sample,
Van Buskirk’s bureau recom
mends all positive animals and
their offspring be removed from
the herd and isolated. Any animals
showing signs of recurrent
diarrhea should be sent to
slaughter under permit im
mediately. Selling infected
animals for dairy or breeding >
purposes violates the quarantine
regulations and subjects the owner
to civil liability, he says.
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Since the disease-causing
bacterium is in the environment
(soil) where the infected animal
was kept, Van Buskirk admits
clean up is difficult.
The chief veterinarian cautions
farmers about vaccinating for
Johne’s disease.
“At this point, the vaccine is
purely experimental,” he ob
serves. “There’s a controversy
over whether it is worth all the
trouble it causes.”
According to Van Buskirk, the
commerdally-available vaccine
causes a severe reaction in the
animal. A lump forms where the
shot was given and an abcess can
develop. And, after being vac
cinated for Johne’s disease, the
animal will react positively to a
tuberculosis test.
“Personally, I have to take a
conservative position when it
comes to recommending vac
cinating for Johne’s disease,” Van
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• Fans and controls are warranteed
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period of five years.
Buskirksays.
For those fanners who signed
the Johne’s disease memorandum
of understanding, indemnity
payments were offered on cultural
positive animals as long as the
fanner followed the prescnbed
husbandry practices. However,
Van Buslurk notes no more memos
will be wntten until the depart*
ment “better defines the
program.”
“The indemnity program is
‘ify’” he says. “What we need is to
expand our capability at the
laboratory level for testing for
Johne’s disease. With that 14-day
incubation, we could get a pile of
fecal samples in a short time.
“And we’re not dealing here with
the kind of disease where the
animal promptly gets sick it
seems to show up under stress,
such as calving and changes in
feed or environment. ”
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