IS BVD VIRUS A PROBLEM FOR YOUR COW HERD? Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus (BVD) is one of the most costly diseases in cattle worldwide, with a variety of syndromes. What’s worse, the virus is very common, very contagious, and very few herds have not been exposed to the virus at one time or another. On the plus side, the infection is usually mild, with high morbidity (lots of cattle get infected) but low mortality (not many deaths due to BVD virus).
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Cow-calf operations are especially at risk from BVD virus because if cows are infected during pregnancy, embryonic death or abortion, birth of undersized, weak calves, or calves with congenital (persistent) infections can result.
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Cows that are infected with a case of BVD seldom appear sick. While clinically unapparent in the dam, the effect on the fetus the cow is carrying varies with the strain of the virus and the age of the fetus. Abortion or mummification, may occur following infection in early to mid-gestation. Even worse, apparently normal calves may be born that are congenitally, or persistently, infected with the BVD virus. The calves are dangerous and continuous sources of BVD virus for the entire herd every day of their life. Older fetuses with developed immune systems that are exposed to the virus in late gestation (>150 days) may respond to the infection and produce antibodies that defeat the infection with no long term adverse effects.
NEOSPORA INFECTION TESTING | $5.00 each
Ran off of whole blood or serum.
Neosporosis is a fairly recently recognized coccidian parasite that is a major cause of abortion in cattle. One of the biggest problems with Neospora is that apparently healthy cows may have a chronic, lifelong infection, and this infection makes the cow several times more likely to abort a pregnancy. Just as important, cows that are infected will very likely pass the infection on to their calves, and the calves will be infected from birth.
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While not all cows chronically infected with Neosporosis will abort, they are, according to research, at a 3 to 7 times greater risk of abortion than Neospora negative, non-infected herdmates. Those Neospora positive cows that do not abort have a high probability (80 to 90%) of producing calves that are congenitally infected with Neospora.
JOHNE'S DISEASE TESTING (Pronounced “Yo-nees”)| $4.75 each
Ran off of whole blood or serum.
Johne’s disease is caused by Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, a hardy bacterium that embeds itself in the wall of the lower part of the small intestine known as the ileum. As an immune response, infected tissues attempt to regenerate healthy tissue which leads to visible thickening of the intestines. This prevents nutrient absorption, resulting in weight loss. Late in the infection, antibody production by the animal can be found in serum of animals and is an indicator that clinical signs of disease and death from the infection will soon follow.
BOVINE LEUKOSIS VIRUS TESTING (BLV)| $5.00 each
Ran off of whole blood or serum.
Bovine leukosis is a cancerous disease caused by Bovine Leukosis Virus (BLV). This is a retrovirus that infects beef and dairy cattle, targeting lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell. These cells are part of the immune system. Infection with the virus most often does not cause any clinical signs, however, about 30% of the infected animals develop a lymphocytosis, or abnormal increase in lymphocytes in the blood. This is sometimes referred to as “leukemia” although it is different from most forms of human leukemia.
CAE & OPP TESTING | $5.00 each
Ran off of whole blood or serum.
Now offering CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis) testing in goats. Also offering OPP (Ovine Progressive Pneumonia) in sheep.