Common diseases in cows and buffaloes. Quick guide on how to treat these diseases.
- Vijay Jai
- Dec 18, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 23, 2024
Disease has a number of meanings, including a condition caused by pathogens as well as one that is harmful or malignant. It can also describe a symptom of an underlying disorder. Disease is often used to mean “illness” in the sense of being unwell, but illness can also be caused by the entry of pathogens.
Animals can also be infected and show disease signs, including specific signs of disease. Cattles like cows and buffalo also suffer from different types of disease if not treated on time cattle may die also.
1. Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute, systemic infectious disease of cattle caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It occurs worldwide, although several countries and regions have eradicated naturally occurring outbreaks. Anthrax is unique among diseases in that it causes death only rarely, though it causes significant economic losses. Signs include the development of lesions at the site of infection; these develop into black to purple discolored or necrotic lesions (flesh-coloured or blackened) that separate from the cutaneous surface as a splash of liquid exudes from them. Seven days after infection, peritonitis may develop as a result of direct extension of disease from nasal cavities and lungs.
Causal Organism: Bacillus anthracis
Symptoms:
Sudden death
High temperature
Difficulty breathing, collapse and convulsions before death.
With disease and inflammation, blood does not clot as easily, resulting in a small amount of bloody discharge from these two openings, mouth and other openings.
Treatment:
Early recognition and proper treatment can help prevent fatalities from anthrax. Early skin soreness, redness, and swelling can indicate the presence of anthrax. Treatment includes antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection spreading throughout the body.The cutaneous (skin) form of anthrax can be treated with common antibiotics such as penicillin, tetracycline, erythromycin, or ciprofloxacin (Cipro).
2. Black Quarter
Black quarter is a disease which affects cattle. Mostly young cattle are affected between 6-24 months of age in good body condition. It comes to the hospital mainly during the rainy season and it is a soil-borne infection which generally occurs during the rainy season.
Causal Organism: Clostridium chauvoei
Symptoms:
High Fever , Loss of appetite, Depression and dullness
Suspended rumination
Rapid pulse and heart rates
Difficulty in breathing
Lameness in affected leg
Treatment:
In case of bacterial infections, antibiotics should be administered orally or through injection. For bacterial infections, oral penicillin is given in doses of 5000 units/kg body weight 1M twice daily for 5 days and oxytetracycline (5 grams/Kg body weight 1M) once daily.
3. Foot-and-mouth disease:
The foot-and-mouth disease is a highly communicable disease affecting cloven-footed animals. It is characterized by fever, formation of vesicles and blisters in the mouth, udder, teats and on the skin between the toes and above the hoofs. The virus causes severe inflammation of the small or large intestines leading to loss of appetite and diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration.
Causal Organism: Picornavirus
Symptoms:
High Fever
Profuse salivation ropes of stringy saliva hangs from mouth
Vesicles appear in mouth and in the inter digital space
Lameness observed
Cross bred cattle are highly susceptible
Treatment
The common treatment for healing ulcers is to use a mixture of coal-tar and copper sulfate in the proportion of 5:1, with gauze wrappings on top.
4. Rinder pest:
Rinderpest is the most destructive of the virus diseases. It is present in the circulating blood during the febrile stage and is later concentrated in different organs, especially in the spleen, lymph nodes and liver. The main clinical feature of Rinderpest is an extremely high fever accompanied by an effect spread systemically by body fluids until a high mortality or mild significant morbidity is observed.
Causal Organism: Morbillivirus
Symptoms:
Discrete necrotic foci develop in the buccal mucosa, inside lip, and on the tongue. Bloody mucoid diarrhoea is noticed. Viral shedding can occur for up to 15 days after onset of disease symptoms.
Treatment:
The virus does not respond to penicillin, streptomycin, sulphadimidine or intestinal antiseptics. However, their use may aid in the recovery of less severe cases of rinderpest as these control secondary complications caused by bacteria.
5. Mastitis:
Mastitis is the most common and the most expensive disease of dairy cattle throughout most of the world. The majority of cows have a tendency for a second attack after about 1 year to 2 years, because they are not protected sufficiently during the first attack.
Causal Organism: Staphylococcus aureus
Symptoms:
Infection by invading bacteria or other microorganisms (fungi, yeasts and possibly viruses) is the primary cause of mastitis. Stress and physical injuries may cause inflammation of the gland, but are not always the sole factor in developing the disease.
Treatment:
More effective antibiotics, such as sulfonamides, penicillin and streptomycin, have now replaced the less effective drugs like acriflavine. These drugs cure bacterial infection after it has caused a lot of damage to the body.
6. Footrot:
Footrot 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. Footrot is usually caused by lack of access to drinking water or inadequate trampling of the hoof wall. In dry climates, footrot is an important economic factor because it causes pain and lameness. It may be prevented by providing water and allowing a slow pace during travel over muddy ground.
Causal Organism: Staphylococcus aureus
Symptoms:
Footrot is caused when a cut or scratch in the skin allows infection to penetrate between the claws or around the top of the hoof. It's called “foot rot” because it happens in front of the forelegs, just under the toes. The curative method is to gently cleanse and dry the affected area.
Treatment:
Cattle are sensitive to many of the same pathogens as humans. Be sure to inspect your cattle area and keep it clean, including drain mud holes and cement areas where cattle are likely to pick up infections. Proper nutrition regarding protein, minerals, and vitamins will maximize hoof health.
7. Ringworm:
This disease affects cattle and causes patches of crusty grey fur to appear on the face, neck and legs. It is highly contagious, transmissible to humans and can spread rapidly under warm conditions.
Causal Organism: Trichophyton
Symptoms:
When clean cattle have been in contact with the disease and are showing signs of infection, they should be watched closely for the appearance of lesions.
Treatment-
This is a serious issue that can affect your cattle. Contact the vet or feed store for products to treat this disease. Ivomec will kill lice and help prevent cattle from scratching causing skin damage and a place for the fungus to enter.
8. Milk fever
Milk fever is sometimes called parturient hypocalcaemia and parturient paresis, because it can develop in heifers that are about to give birth. It usually occurs when the cows are being fed for the first time after being in the milking parlor. The disease can affect only one or both teats at a time, which is a very difficult disease for veterinarians to diagnose, so the importance of early diagnosis cannot be overemphasized.
Causal due to: Insufficient calcium
Symptoms:
Clinical symptoms occur in one to three days after calving, typically starting with loss of appetite, constipation and restlessness, but no rise in temperature.
Treatment:
The best way to treat milk fever cases is to give 23 percent calcium gluconate in a dose of 500 milliliters, followed by two oral calcium bolus doses 12 hours apart. If cows do not respond to the calcium, oral calcium bolus should not be given.
