The initial peak prevalence occurred in 2003 following its introduction. In the following years much fewer cases were reported until 2007 when the incidence of the disease spiked once again. In the years that followed 2007, significantly fewer cases were reported until this last summer (2018) where once again there has been a renewed spike in the number of cases of WNV in horses across the Prairie provinces.

The clinical prevalence of WNV in horses is highly unpredictable in any given year due to the intimate relationship between the virus, its mosquito host, specific bird populations and weather conditions. The WNV is primarily maintained in nature by transmission cycles between mosquitoes and birds.

Wild birds within the magpie, crow, raven, grey and blue jay families play a crucial role in spread of the WNV. These birds are highly susceptible to infection and act like feathered virus factories. The virus can reach tremendously high numbers in these birds. As the number of infected birds increases, so does the risk of infection to other types of animals including horses and humans.

Biting mosquitoes pick up the virus and transmit it to other hosts. Only one specific species of mosquito, the Culex tarsal, spreads WNV and this species usually appears later in the summer season. As a result, the risk of WNV infection to humans or horses tends to peak July through to early September, especially if standing water and other mosquito larva habitats exist and are coupled with extended periods of warm weather.

Both horses and humans act as “dead-end hosts,” meaning they can be infected by the virus, but the virus does not replicate within horses or humans in high enough numbers to be infectious to others. There is no evidence that WNV can spread directly from birds to humans or to horses without mosquitoes, nor can a horse infect a human or vice versa. Mules and donkeys can also be affected by the virus.

The majority of horses bitten by a mosquito infected with WNV will develop an asymptomatic infection, clear the virus and carry on without incident. In some animals, however, the virus breaches the blood-brain barrier and crosses into the central nervous system where it causes inflammation and damage to the brain and/or spinal cord. The nature, range and severity of clinical signs varies largely depending upon the areas damaged by the virus.

Signs of the disease in the sick horse can include fever, inappetence, teeth grinding, listlessness, aimless wandering and/or neurological symptoms such as ataxia (stumbling, staggering, wobbly gait, unilateral leaning, circling, hindlimb weakness or inco-ordination), muscle twitching, lip droop/paralysis, head pressing, blindness, and in severe cases partial paralysis, inability to rise, convulsions and death.

It is highly recommended that all horses showing neurological signs be evaluated by a veterinarian. Clinical signs of WNV infection in horses are similar to those caused by western equine encephalitis, eastern equine encephalitis, tetanus and rabies. Specific diagnosis of WNV is usually based on the nature of the clinical signs together with detection of antibodies to the virus in a blood sample or virus isolation from the tissues submitted upon post-mortem examination.

There is no specific treatment for the virus. Supportive therapies such as intravenous fluids and good nursing care are used to address the effects of the virus.

Approximately one-third of the horses that develop clinical signs will die or are euthanized due to complications. Some horses that do recover may still have residual neurological deficits.

Since the prevalence of WNV in humans is associated with the prevalence of West Nile virus in horses, this disease is under surveillance and is an Immediately Notifiable Disease under the Canada’s Health of Animals Act. This allows health agencies to increase their awareness in areas where horses test positive.

While the incidence of WNV is likely to continue its oscillating trend into the future the risk of WNV disease in any individual horse is relatively low, some years lower than others. Most horses bitten by a WNV-infected mosquito do not develop clinical disease and go on to develop a natural immunity to the disease. Unfortunately for the small minority of horses that do develop clinical disease the consequences can be quite severe.

Effective vaccination against WNV in horses relies on strategic timing of vaccination in late May or June in order to position the maximum effects of the vaccine during the season of peak mosquito activity. Since this seasonal influence is often regionally specific it is advisable to contact your local veterinarian for an appropriate vaccination protocol. It is not possible to eliminate the risk of mosquito exposure altogether for horses, however, it still remains a viable idea to practise good mosquito control.

The post West Nile virus revisits horses in the Prairies appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

“We are entering the season now where it is getting cooler and damper and those are the ideal conditions for this disease to spread. We will likely see more cases being confirmed over the next few months,” said Andrew Dickson, general manager of the Manitoba Pork Council.

Manitoba’s 10th case of PEDv was found on Sept. 21 at a finisher farm in southeast Manitoba. The farm is located within five kilometres of the sow farm that was confirmed positive for PEDv the previous week.

The operator is currently working with a veterinarian and Manitoba’s chief veterinary office (CVO) to contain the site and make plans for animal care and site cleanup.

Farms located within a five-kilometre radius of this operation have been notified and are being tested.

Transportation protocol

Confirmed cases of PEDv began popping up in the province in late May of this year, after being free of the disease for 16 months.

“It is difficult to pinpoint a source of introduction. There are known sources in Manitoba. For example, we know that assembly yards are contaminated with the virus and we know trailers that have been down to the U.S. and aren’t washed or disinfected properly are very likely to be infected due to the high virus load there,” Dickson said.

The first case in the string of 10 was found on May 26, less than one month after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) lifted an emergency transportation protocol.

The emergency transportation protocol had required drivers to seal livestock trailers at the border upon their return to Canada and travel immediately to a Canadian wash station to be disinfected.

When this protocol was lifted, livestock trailers were required to be washed in the U.S. before returning to Canada.

“The chances of a trailer becoming infected at a U.S. wash station are high and we are saying from a disease management perspective, it makes more sense to keep the disease-free status of that trailer intact and get it back in Canada so it doesn’t get infected,” Dickson said.

Producers and industry members have been lobbying CFIA to reinstate the emergency transportation protocol ever since it was lifted.

“We are trying to get CFIA to give us an option to allow trailers to be washed in Manitoba without having to be washed and disinfected in the U.S.,” Dickson said. “CFIA is looking at what it can do. The problem is in the legislation, as it limits its ability to offer options. So, it is looking at the current regulations to see if there is a way that it can allow that to happen.”

Different tactics

Dickson explains that Manitoba has been able to keep the disease relatively at bay in comparison to our neighbours to the south through tight biosecurity measures and maintaining ports of entry.

“For starters our pig density here is much less than it is in say, Iowa. The state of Iowa produces 35 million to 37 million pigs a year and we produce about nine million,” Dickson said. “Our barns are also farther apart, we have very strict biosecurity measures and we spend a lot of time and money as an industry training staff and service providers to maintain these measures.”

In terms of transportation, Dickson says Manitoba has gone out of the way to make sure trailers are going to central sites and are being properly disinfected.

“We also have a limited number of ways the virus could be introduced into the province. There is only one or two ports of entry into Canada from the U.S. into our market, so if those trailers that come through are properly disinfected, we can keep the level of disease at bay,” Dickson said. “And, we are unique in that. If you are in Iowa, they have farmer roads and numerous highways. There is just no way they can control the points of entry there.”

He adds that Western Canada’s approach to managing PEDv has been very different than in the U.S.

“We are taking the approach of keeping the disease out and if we get a case, we go in and rapidly clean it up and not let it drag on,” Dickson said. “In the U.S., the approach has been to let the disease wash through the national herd and hopefully enough resistance will build up in the sows that the mortalities will eventually drop. But, we simply can’t afford to lose that number of baby pigs. And from a general care point of view, we want these animals to be healthy and become mature animals that we can market.”

PEDv causes severe dehydration and diarrhea in pigs and is generally fatal in young animals. It does not transmit to humans or other animals and is no risk to food safety.

Since the disease first appeared in the U.S. in 2013, more than eight million pigs have died from PEDv in North America.

In Canada, Ontario has had the most confirmed cases of the virus since it first appeared in the country in 2014, and the rest of Western Canada has steered clear of the virus thus far, with no clinical on-farm cases being recorded west of Winnipeg.

Moving forward

Producers in the sector are being asked to be extremely vigilant when it comes to biosecurity protocol and to proceed with caution when dealing with any trailers that may be returning from assembly yards.

“Go back and look at your biosecurity plan and make sure that you are doing what you are planning. Also, make sure that every person in the organization is a part of that plan,” Dickson said. “The other thing to think about is the service providers, the guy who does the meter reading for Hydro, the guy who picks up the garbage, the pizza delivery. Everybody has got to be on top of their game and doing their bit to control the spread of this disease.”

In the meantime, sector research and development has been moving forward with a vaccine.

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre is in the final phase of testing a PEDv vaccine at the University of Saskatchewan.

Commercial production of the vaccine is being fast tracked by the European pharmaceutical company, Huvepharma but commercial availability in Canada will depend on how quickly trial results can be obtained.

“The development of this vaccine is pretty critical. Like all disease, having a vaccine is your first line of defence. They are hoping that something will be available this winter but a lot will depend on how the trial goes,” Dickson said.

The post Province confirms the 10th case of PEDv appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Cattle are very susceptible along with a long list of other species, including bison and horses. It is also considered a zoonosis which means humans can contract it.

Fortunately, it is generally the cutaneous (skin) form in humans and responds well to antibiotics. Unfortunately, terrorist groups have used anthrax spores as a form of bioterrorism. (This is not new — it was used in the First World War to infect horses.) Humans only very rarely get the fatal inhalation form. In fact, in 2006, with the hundreds of producers and veterinarians exposed to anthrax only two contracted the skin form and were treated.

Anthrax has killed cattle and bison in several outbreaks over the last 100 years, but the biggest was in Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2006, when more than 800 animals died on over 150 different premises. Approximately 20 to 25 outbreaks have been reported in cattle across Canada since 1967.

Cattle, bison, horses, moose, deer, and other species contract the spores from the soil and spores can remain infective for at least 250 years if deeply buried. Soils high in organic material and calcium and with a higher pH make survival more likely, while spores on the soil surface break down in a few years.

Outbreaks occur primarily in wet springs followed by a very hot, dry summer or in very dry conditions. Very wet springs bring the spores to the surface, while in dry years, livestock generally will graze low areas close to the ground where they normally don’t have access and contact the spores.

If enough spores are ingested, a toxemia results in very sudden death. Toxemia results in severe weakness and co-ordination depression followed quickly by death. All sudden deaths in cattle should be autopsied by your herd veterinarian. Not only do they qualify for the BSE program, finding out the cause of anthrax in the sentinel case allows you and your neighbours to initiate a preventive program. Based on blood not clotting, lack of rigor mortis to the carcass, and other findings such as an enlarged spleen, anthrax may be diagnosed or at least suspected on the original post-mortem.

Ideally, if suspected, the carcass should not be opened. The diagnosis can be made from collecting a few drops of blood. There are many causes of sudden death, so in most cases the carcass will be completely opened up before anthrax is suspected.

The problem is often that it is not the first disease your veterinarian will suspect. Lab backup is required to confirm it. Spraying with formaldehyde to prevent scavenging by predators initially, and burying with lye are also accepted procedures. Until complete disposal has taken place, take care to keep dogs, cats and humans away from the carcass.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency used to help with disposal and decontamination, but no longer compensates producers to help offset losses and disposal costs. It still is reportable to both the federal and provincial authorities, but the labs do that automatically if there is a positive confirmation.

The preventive vaccine is a non-encapsulated live spore vaccine (sterne 32F4 strain). It is called the anthrax spore vaccine and is manufactured by a Colorado serum company. Immunity to the vaccine is almost 100 per cent with two shots three to four weeks apart. These must be boostered yearly in order to maintain immunity, preferably just before summer, the prime time for contraction. At $2 to $3, the cost is comparable to other cattle vaccines. It’s administered subcutaneously and slaughter withdrawal in cattle would be around 42 days. It is only available from one distributor in Canada and most veterinarians don’t normally stock it.

It becomes a decision between the producer and his veterinarian as to how long to continue. My recommendations would be to vaccinate if a herd of cattle or bison were diagnosed in your immediate area, especially if on the same water course. In the 2006 Saskatchewan outbreak, CFIA veterinarian Dr. Greg Douglas recommended vaccinating all cattle, horses, sheep, goats and bison within a five-mile radius of all positive cases. This is very wise advice.

Vaccinating cattle for anthrax is not part of most routine preventive programs because the incidence is very low and sporadic. However, since the spores are extremely resistant, if cattle were pastured in areas with a history of anthrax, I would vaccinate indefinitely. Cost is minimal and protection is high.

If there has never been a case in your immediate area, there is probably no need to vaccinate. But there have been reported incidences of anthrax coming in on the feed. This is easily possible where round bales are made in old lake bottoms in a drought and dirt gets wound into the bales. If sourcing feed from a confirmed anthrax area, this would be another good reason to vaccinate. The cost of valuable purebreds may make the decision to vaccinate easier.

If diagnosed, the best plan is to move cattle as quickly as possible off the contaminated pasture or area and either vaccinate or first treat with long-acting penicillin, wait eight days, and then vaccinate. The vaccine is very susceptible and rendered ineffective by antibiotics if they are given simultaneously.

You and your herd veterinarian will weigh the pros and cons of each method. This may depend on how quickly it was diagnosed and the handling facilities available. With bison, this is difficult as it is generally at a time when the calves are still small. Commonly the bulls are disproportionately affected as they are often in the breeding season and more stressed than the cows.

Discussion should occur with your regular veterinarian on their vaccination protocols. He or she would be familiar with the past history of anthrax in your area and could best advise you. It is extremely important to have all cattle sudden deaths autopsied so the first case is not missed. Vaccination will provide some protection as soon as seven days with total protection by 14 days after administration.

An outbreak back in 1991 in four Alberta locations was thought to be linked to migratory birds from Wood Buffalo Park — a theory that has some credibility. Our practice diagnosed one of those outbreaks and vaccinated for four years after the then-mandatory two years (for a total of six years). Vaccination was then stopped at the owners’ request and the herd has not had another case since. But had it been my choice, I would have kept vaccinating.

The vaccine is labelled for cattle, so we vaccinate bison extra label. Because the vaccine technically has a shorter level of immunity (roughly six months), we try to vaccinate when just going out to pasture. The problem with bison is they are just going to start calving. Dr. Dave Hunter, who is chief bison veterinarian for Ted Turner Enterprises, has done some interesting work with doubling the dose, which seems to extend immunity. He recently double dosed using a needleless vaccinator and got an even greater immune response. Withdrawal, of course, will be longer. But this may shed some light on getting better and longer protection and more easily allows us to fit this into our management programs with other vaccines. We don’t know yet how long this method may protect our vaccinated animals.

Fortunately, anthrax can be controlled well with vaccination, and unfortunately we have to live with it cropping up every so often in the three western provinces — often in new locations. It is also prevalent in the Midwest U.S., especially in some areas of Texas.

Discuss all vaccination requirements with your herd veterinarian, as this summer saw a few outbreaks across the Prairies because of the hot, dry summer. Just like vaccinating for the clostridial diseases, vaccinating for anthrax is a no-brainer if endemic in your area.

The post Beef 911: What you need to know about anthrax appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Anthrax is a highly contagious and infectious soil-borne disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a relatively large spore-forming bacteria that can infect mammals, primarily herbivores. Beef cattle and bison are most likely to contract the disease because they graze low to the ground, often due to drought or management practices. Infectious spores are microscopic structures that are difficult to destroy and can survive for decades, especially in alkaline soils.

Spores brought to the surface by digging, heavy rains, soil erosion or dried up slough areas as examples, can easily be ingested by cattle while grazing close to the soil and cause infection. Anthrax in cattle has a very rapid onset, lasting only 2-3 hours, so the most common symptom is sudden death.

Contact your veterinarian immediately if you suspect anthrax on your farm. For any animal that dies suddenly and unexpectedly, do not move or open the carcass, and cover it with a tarp to help prevent scavenging and disease spread. When an animal dies of anthrax, the bacteria is present in most tissues of the body and if those tissues are exposed to oxygen, infectious spores begin to form.

Anthrax is a federally reportable disease and in some provinces it is a provincially notifiable disease. Veterinarians will collect blood samples to test for the anthrax bacteria. If anthrax is detected, it will be reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The provincial agriculture department may also be notified. The CFIA no longer investigates, tests, quarantines, vaccinates, or assists with anthrax mortality disposal, but some provinces may pay for diagnostic anthrax tests and provide advice on proper disposal and control.

In rare cases, producers or veterinarians handling infected cattle may be infected through a cut or skin abrasion. Symptoms in humans generally appear within 7 days of exposure, and should be treated promptly by a physician.

Learn more about anthrax in beef cattle, including prevalence, prevention, vaccination, and carcass disposal, at the Beef Cattle Research Council website.

The post It’s prime time for anthrax, so keep a close eye on your cattle appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Every few years a severe outbreak of scours or some other disease will get the community talking; the fear of spread is the biggest concern. Often producers are afraid to even associate with their neighbours in such a situation. I have coined this the “leper mentality.” They treat the producer involved like they have leprosy.

Simple precautions

A few very simple precautions can virtually eliminate the possibility of any transmission and make producers rest easy.

Firstly, the first form of any biosecurity is having your stock as well protected against any disease of concern. Work with your veterinarians. They know the diseases prevalent in the area. Vaccines for most common contagious diseases such as scours, IBR or BVD already exist. For other diseases less prevalent, such as leptospirosis or anthrax a reportable disease, veterinarians may have you vaccinate if the disease emerges in your area.

Good nutrition also keeps the immune system strong. Keep in mind no vaccine is 100 per cent protective and in the event of overwhelming challenge disease can still occur. Treating and removing external and internal parasites also keep the immune system strong because it is not trying to rid the cattle’s body of these pesky parasites.

Common sense

A very common-sense approach to disease control is the best, as these steps are easy to implement and maintain. Infectious organisms are small, generally much smaller than what the naked eye can see. A good rule of thumb is anything dirty may be contaminated with infectious organisms. Either your clothes, skin, or more commonly boots, can be the biggest source of infection. Cleaning clothes, removing coveralls and washing boots with common disinfectants after contacting sick animals will kill or remove most organisms.

Simply cleaning your hands is a good hygienic practice minimizing spread of disease. Boot dips with a disinfectant such as VIRKON or water and vinegar mixed 50-50 allows one to disinfect the soiled underside of boots as well as make a visible statement to visitors that sanitation is very important on your farm.

If possible have a garden hose there with pressure.

However, visitors should be coming to your place with clean boots and clothes. With visitors, it may be best to have extra pairs of boots they can wear or have a box of the slip-over plastic boots that can be worn over their existing footwear. This also really increases awareness of the importance of biosecurity on your farm.

Having a boot dip with brush at the entry to your farm or calving barn, for instance, is a constant reminder of biosecurity. These boot dips should be replenished at weekly intervals or sooner if lots of organic material are present. Disinfectant mats are also available which accomplish the same purpose.

Potential

The potential for disease introduction is greatest when new animals are purchased or if your own animals are taken somewhere (like to a cattle show or auction market) and then returned home. A simple fix here is to isolate these animals for two to three weeks when you return, as most diseases picked up will express themselves by then. Contrary to this some natural exposure to infectious diseases in this way could be a good thing as it makes your herd more immune competent.

A totally closed isolated herd is really a misnomer in today’s cattle industry. Cattle are traded back and forth, taken to auction markets and brought home and, as a minimum, herd bulls are purchased off farm. Plus, there is exposure to wildlife and humans, which can occasionally be a source of infection for your cattle.

Most purebred operators have very open herds. Heifers and bred cows are purchased and sold. Commercial producers are always walking through the herd selecting bulls. Cattle are taken to shows exposing them to numerous other cattle by direct and indirect contact.

As mentioned before, this could still be a good thing potentially allowing limited exposure to some organisms. It is when the concentration or exposure to organisms gets too high that disease occurs. One always has to be wary when stress from transport, processing, weaning or calving gets too high, as cattle are much more susceptible to pick up disease.

Vehicles

Mechanical transmission from people, vehicles and other equipment is another mode of transmission. Visitors from urban areas are less of a risk, but again maintaining cleanliness, boot dips and simply not allowing access to certain areas of your farm at certain times of year minimize any risk. Most infectious viruses are quite fragile; drying by the sun kills most germs.

Wildlife still pose some threat to our commercial cattle when it comes to certain diseases. They are very mobile, cover great distances, and are hard to control. You want to control wildlife, especially cloven-hoofed animals, from access to your feed and water supplies. This prevents fecal and urine contamination.

If potentially contagious diseases are diagnosed in your area, the intensity of these control problems can be stepped up and visitor logs used. Work with your veterinarian to have the most comprehensive vaccination program you can. If you help the neighbours, such as with branding, clean your clothes and boots upon returning. By implementing the above points you can minimize most potential biosecurity risks against your farm.

The post Beef 911: Cattlemen can ensure biosecurity on the ranch appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The council, the Manitoba Livestock Manure Management Initiative and Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development are asking producers to submit manure samples to help assesses where the virus could be lurking and how long it survives.

The study aims to first identify undiagnosed farms and then assess the virus’s survivability and the effectiveness of current disinfection strategies.

“We want to determine how long the virus is surviving in the pits, in the lagoons, in the soil when it’s applied and then on manure application equipment after it’s been used to spread manure,” said Mark Fynn, an animal care specialist for the Manitoba Pork Council. “And then to test our cleaning and disinfection protocols, for the manure application equipment, to see that it’s actually effective at eliminating the virus.”

The pork council has monitored 18 high-traffic facilities in the province since February. Federal packing plants, provincial abattoirs, assembly yards and truck-wash stations throughout Manitoba have submitted a total of 2,700 samples. Eight facilities have tested PED positive at some point. Of those, four are currently negative, while four are working towards containing or eliminating the virus.

• More from the Manitoba Co-operator: Zoetis plans vaccine against PEDv

So far, two on-farm cases of PED have been detected in Manitoba, according to the latest PED virus bulletin from the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer. The same report confirmed 62 farms across Canada have tested positive for the virus, 58 of which were in Ontario.

The virus is not dangerous to humans, but is often fatal for piglets. Mortality rates are confidential in Canada, but an estimated seven million piglets have died as a result of the virus in the United States.

“We’re in a unique situation where we have two positive farms, so we can undergo some of the research. But it’s at a manageable level as compared to Ontario,” said Fynn.

Producers who participate in the study are encouraged to follow biosecurity protocols to ensure they do not track the virus to or from their farm.

“There’s always a risk if there are positive barns,” he said, “but we don’t suspect there to be many positive barns out there based on our surveillance program results.”

Robyn Harte, a business development specialist for swine, will help co-ordinate the government side of the project. She says there has been a push to conduct research on PED because the fast-acting and often fatal virus has been so devastating to the hog industry.

“Research is running the gamut because it is a new virus in North America and as such there isn’t a large body of work to reference,” she said in a telephone interview. “And so lots of research in a huge number of areas is required.”

Producers interested in participating in the study can call Darlene Meakin at 204-897-0622.

The post New PEDv study looks at manure pits appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The most common way to get rabies is from a bite of an animal with the disease. Infection through fresh wounds or mucous membranes is less likely but possible, Stoltenow says.

Recently, a bat with rabies was reported in Minnesota. The woman who was bitten was not going to submit it for testing until her son told her to do so.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people can’t tell if a bat has rabies just by looking at it. Rabies only can be confirmed in a laboratory.

However, any bat that is active by day or is found in a place where bats usually are not seen, such as in a home or on a lawn, might be rabid. A bat that is unable to fly and can be approached easily could be sick.

Here are some prevention tips:

Avoid contact with bats, skunks or raccoons.

Make sure dogs, cats, ferrets, horses and high-value or frequently handled livestock have current rabies vaccinations.

Do not perform oral exams on animals that appear to have difficulty chewing or swallowing, exhibit any type of oral or facial paralysis or show excessive salivation. Veterinarians should use extreme caution when doing oral exams on such animals.

Contact local animal control authorities about animals you suspect have rabies.

Behavioural changes and unexplained paralysis are two indications of rabies. Other warning signs are anorexia, apprehension, nervousness, irritability, hyperactivity, isolation, lack of co-ordination, altered vocalization, changes in temperament and uncharacteristic aggressiveness.

Rabies exists in two forms: furious and dumb. Animals with the furious type are irrational and will attack other animals, people or moving objects at the slightest provocation or noise. They assume an alert position and expression with dilated pupils and may chew or swallow foreign objects. Lack of muscular co-ordination, paralysis and death follow.

Symptoms of dumb rabies include paralysis of the throat and jaw muscles, profuse salivation and difficulty swallowing. Animals may drop their jaws. Death eventually follows.

The rabies virus may be in saliva for three to five days in domestic dogs and cats and up to eight days in skunks before the animals show clinical signs that they have the disease, according to Stoltenow.

Also, signs of the disease generally take 14 to 90 days to show up in the victim of a rabid animal bite, although research shows the disease’s incubation period can be as short as nine days and as long as seven years.

“The variability is due to a variety of factors, such as the location of the wound, severity of the wound, distance from the brain, and amount and strain of the virus introduced,” he says.

Once transmitted by a bite, the virus stays at the bite site for a considerable amount of time. It replicates in muscle cells and travels along nerves to the spinal cord and brain, and then to the salivary glands.

The rabies virus will not survive outside a mammalian host in the environment for an extended period, and is killed easily by soap and water, and common disinfectants.

Initial human symptoms include apprehension, excitability, headache, fever, malaise and sensory changes at the bite site. As the disease progresses, victims suffer from paralysis, difficulty swallowing, delirium and convulsions. Eventually they go into a coma and die, usually from respiratory failure.

People who suspect they’ve been exposed to rabies should contact their doctor immediately, Stoltenow says. A rabies post-exposure prophylaxis series is available for people who have been exposed to the disease.

The post Veterinarian Urges People To Protect Themselves And Their Animals Against Rabies appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is urging producers to guard against anthrax in their herds, especially since the disease appears to be making a comeback in Western Canada.

“Recent weather conditions and previous outbreaks have increased the threat of anthrax to livestock in the Prairie provinces this summer,” CFIA warned in newspaper advertisements last week.

The agency said anthrax has occurred on 226 Prairie farms since 2006. Manitoba recorded cases on 50 farms during that time and has experienced repeated outbreaks since 2000. The province almost escaped 2010 anthrax free until a case was reported in the Rural Municipality of Armstrong Nov. 5.

Prior to 2000, anthrax appeared only infrequently in Manitoba.

Dr. Lynn Bates, a CFIA veterinary program specialist in Winnipeg, said a wet cycle during the past decade may be one reason for the reappearance of anthrax, an acute bacterial disease. Spores can survive in the soil for decades or even longer. Flooding flushes them to the surface where animals grazing on pasture ingest them.

Most recent anthrax cases have occurred in southeastern Manitoba and the Interlake region, where flooding is rampant again this year and the risk to livestock in those areas could be high, Bates said.

Vaccinating livestock is the only effective way to protect them from anthrax. Bates said producers should discuss vaccination with a local veterinarian before turning cattle out on pasture.

Anthrax usually shows up in July and August when days are warm and cattle graze most actively. Death is rapid and usually occurs before treatment can be given.

Producers who find animals dead on pasture with no visible signs should suspect anthrax and immediately contact their local veterinarian, said Bates.

Anthrax is a federally reportable disease. When a case is reported, CFIA quarantines the farm, provides vaccine to protect the rest of the herd, oversees disposal of the carcass (usually by incineration) and decontaminates the area to help limit the spread of anthrax spores.

CFIA pays producers an indemnity to help cover disposal costs. The amount varies with the species. For cattle, it’s $500 per animal.

Anthrax is a zoonotic disease, which means humans can get it. Bates said people should not handle contaminated carcasses without wearing protective clothing, such as coveralls, boot covers and gloves. ron@fbcpublishing.com

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Anthraxusuallyshows upinJulyandAugust.

The post CFIA Issues Anthrax Alert For Summer appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

Epidemics in recent years, such as SARS and the H1N1 swine flu, are estimated to have caused billions of dollars in economic costs.

Some 700 million people keep farm animals in developing countries and these animals generate up to 40 per cent of household income, the report by the International Livestock Research Institute said.

“Wealthy countries are effectively dealing with livestock diseases, but in Africa and Asia, the capacity of veterinary services to track and control outbreaks is lagging dangerously behind livestock intensification,” John McDermott and Delia Grace at the Nairobi-based institute said in a statement on the report.

“This lack of capacity is particularly dangerous because many poor people in the world still rely on farm animals to feed their families, while rising demand for meat, milk and eggs among urban consumers in the developing world is fuelling a rapid intensification of livestock production.”

Seventy-five per cent of emerging infectious diseases originate in animals, they added. Of these 61 per cent are transmissible between animals and humans.

“A new disease emerges every four months; many are trivial but HIV, SARS and avian influenza (e. g. H5N1) illustrate the huge potential impacts,” McDermott and Grace wrote in the report.

HUGE ECONOMIC COSTS

Epidemics like SARS in 2003, sporadic outbreaks of the H5N1 avian flu since 1997 and the H1N1 swine flu pandemic of 2009 racked up enormous economic costs around the world.

While SARS cost between $50 billion to $100 billion, the report cited a World Bank estimate in 2010 which pinned the potential costs of an avian flu pandemic at $3 trillion.

The report warned that rapid urbanization and climate change could act as “wild cards,” altering the present distribution of diseases, sometimes “dramatically for the worse.”

The two researchers urged developing countries to improve animal disease surveillance and speed up testing procedures to help contain livestock epidemics before they become widespread.

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This year’s clean slate could be because more producers are vaccinating their cattle to guard against the disease, suggested Dr. Tim Pasma, the province’s disease control veterinarian.

Previous anthrax outbreaks occurred in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007. There were four reported cases last year, Pasma said.

This year was generally a quiet one for anthrax across Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency reported just four cases in Saskatchewan, three of them in the southeast region of the province.

That’s a vast improvement for Saskatchewan, which some years reports hundreds of cases, said Pasma.

Anthrax can appear in either very wet or very dry years. Anthrax spores can survive in the soil for decades or even longer. During wet years, they can get flushed to the surface and ingested by grazing cattle. In dry years, cattle are forced to graze close to the ground and can pick up spores that way.

Although this year was very wet, the absence of anthrax cases indicates producers may be vaccinating at a higher rate, Pasma said.

Anthrax usually shows up in July and August when days are warm and cattle graze most actively. Pasma said Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives sends notices to local veterinarians every spring alerting them to the oncoming anthrax season and recommending producers get their herds vaccinated in June.

“That’s certainly the message we want to get out – that producers do vaccinate if they’re in an area that’s affected by anthrax.”

The most affected areas in Manitoba are the southeastern municipalities of Franklin and Stuartburn. Cases have also been reported in the Interlake municipalities of Armstrong and Rockwood, as well as in the south central region. ron@fbcpublishing.com

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