By Nat Williams - The Southern News Services - Feb. 4,2018
Illinois cattle disease study in need of farm cooperators in Southern Illinois
Excerpts:
. . . The University of Illinois Extension educator is working with the Illinois Beef Association in a study looking at the extent and severity of bovine anaplasmosis, a disease of ruminants caused by a parasite.
. . . particularly, is looking at animals in southern Illinois.
“We’ve had anaplasmosis for years,” she said. “The reason I got interested is I kept hearing about more and more cases. It seemed like we were having more cases than normal. . . .
. . . The last study in Illinois was in 1997. It found statewide prevalence to be between 7.1 and 10.7 percent of herds. Researchers estimate that over the past few years, southern Illinois cattlemen have lost fetuses, cows and bulls worth at least $100,000.
The disease is often transferred by tick bites. It also can be spread from one animal to another from infected instruments during routine procedures such as vaccination or castration.
There are vaccines for the disease, but they sometimes are difficult to obtain, and have spotty effectiveness. . . .
. . . “We’ve been vaccinating for several years at Dixon Springs. We still have several cases a year.”
The study calls for blood samples to be taken from cattle in counties in southern Illinois. Genomic DNA will be extracted from the samples, along with survey data from cooperating cattlemen. . . . -
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