Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
Ticks bring disease to NSW cattle
Friday, 13/03/2009
A cattle disease spread by bush ticks has left one producer in northern New South Wales with 35 dead cattle.
Greg Bailey from Dorrigo lost three grown animals to Theileria, and the remainder aborted or died soon after birth.
He says it appears his cattle were more vulnerable because they were brought in from outside the region.
"I'm supposed to be an experienced cattleman and I actually didn't know anything about the disease," he says.
"And I would've thought that the relevant agencies may have prior to now let people know that it is around and be more positive about saying 'Look, we all know the risks of bringing in cattle from other areas, but once this thing is prevalent, just don't do it'."
Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673
posted
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"And I would've thought that the relevant agencies may have prior to now let people know . . ."
Yeah, you would have thought so, for sure ! So it's not just US "authorities" who want to keep this a secret from people ! Somehow, though, were the IDSA to have been more open, the rest of the world might also have taken note.
Now, I wonder if the PEOPLE there know they are at risk, too? Has someone told them?
Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
It is interesting to me that we are also experiencing our own 'cattle fever' epidemic right now in the south. At least our government is being vocal on some level (cattle industry is pretty big, as Oprah knows) and trying to eradicate it again, although the border is a tough place to try to maintain immigration on every level.
Posts: 7052 | From Colorado | Registered: Mar 2003
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Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
Tick laboratory
The main work of the Tick Laboratory is the production of a steady supply of ticks and tick salivary glands infected with the sporozoite form of Theileria parva for staff in ILRAD's theileriosis research program.
Theileria sporozoites can be obtained only by passage of the parasites between the tick vectors and the mammalian hosts. The Tick Laboratory maintains a large colony of Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks. Nymphal ticks pick up the parasites from feeding on cattle infected with Theileria parva (Muguga) stabilate. After the adult ticks moult, they are fed for four days on rabbits and then dissected to harvest the infected salivary glands. Infection rates are determined for each batch of ticks.
Staff from the Tick Laboratory are collaborating with ILRAD scientists on several research projects, including the isolation of new stocks from the field, the rate of transmission of parasite clones from ticks to cattle, pick ups of parasites from Theileria-carrier cattle, tick stabilate preparation and determination of Theileria infection rates in field ticks.
Rhipicephalus appendiculatus is the most important tick species in East Africa, where it is the principal vector of T. p. parva and T. p. lawrencei. Colonies of other tick species maintained at ILRAD include another Rhipicephalus species, R. zambeziensis, as well as Amblyomma variegatum and A. gemma, vectors of Cowdria ruminantium, which causes heartwater, and two relatively benign Theileria species, T. mutans and T. velifera.
Low Theileria infection rates in ticks continued to be a problem in 1989. No clear relationship is manifested between parasitaemia in cattle and infection rates in tick batches fed on the cattle. Differences do exist, however, in the susceptibility to Theileria infection shown by R. appendiculatus, R. zambeziensis and R. appendiculatus collected from different areas. The Tick Laboratory is identifying the tick species and isolates most susceptible to infection.
The International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases (ILRAD) was established by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in 1973 with a mandate to conduct intensive research leading to improved control of livestock diseases. The Laboratory's research and training activities concentrate on immunological and related aspects of two diseases, theileriosis and trypanosomiasis, that seriously limit food production and rural development in Africa and other developing regions of the world. ILRAD's research is focused on two virulent forms of these diseases, East Coast fever and tsetse-transmitted trypanosomiasis.
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