What is cowpox, disease symptoms and treatment methods
Smallpox in a cow (cowpox) is a viral disease. The virus most often affects the skin of the udder, lips, mucous membranes of the mouth, nose. Healthy individuals can catch the infection through contact with infected individuals. To protect the animal, you need to follow the sanitary norms and rules for keeping cattle. You can cure the disease in cows with antibiotics and folk remedies.
Smallpox in cows
What is chickenpox in a cow, what is its treatment, how are cows and human smallpox related? To get rid of this ailment, you need to know the signs of the development of the disease and what consequences the lack of treatment can lead to.
The etiology of vaccinia
Smallpox most commonly affects adult dairy cows. The etiology of vaccinia virus disease is as follows: the disease is caused by DNA viruses of the subfamily Chordopoxvirinae. The cowpox virus is composed of many chemical components. When the pathogen enters the body, it is localized in the cells of the integumentary tissue (skin, mucous membranes).
Cowpox virus can infect not only representatives of cattle, but also goats, pigs, horses, rabbits, guinea pigs. People are also susceptible to the disease.
The infection is transmitted in the following ways:
- By airborne droplets and by contact. The virus enters the external environment with mucous secretions, with crusts of dead epidermis.
- With insect bites. They can be carriers of the disease; in the body of arthropods, foreign DNA remains up to 100 days.
- From rats and mice. Rodents secrete the virus into feed, hay, and water.
- Through veterinary equipment, automatic milking machines.
The virus gets inside the damaged skin of the udder, then smallpox develops on the udder of the cow. If the animal is deficient in vitamin A, the pathogen is able to penetrate the epidermis without violating its integrity. In calves, the virus will enter the mucous membranes of the mouth and nose.
Symptoms of smallpox in cows
How smallpox develops in cows and its symptoms appear depends on the way the virus enters the body, the virulence of the strain, and the state of health of the animal. From the day of infection, usually 4-9 days pass and the first symptoms appear. The disease is acute, very rarely becomes chronic. In bulls, the course of the disease is latent, signs appear rarely. Smallpox in cows has symptoms similar to the human form of the disease.
Symptoms of the bovine form of the disease:
- Decreased interest in food.
- Lethargy, anxiety, sometimes aggression.
- Persistent hyperthermia up to 40 ° C.
- Reduced milk yield. Inflammation of the breast tissue develops, lactation is difficult.
- The skin of the udder and nipples are swollen.
- Inflammation of the udder, mucous membranes in the mouth, nasal passages, in bulls - on the scrotum. The inflammatory process is manifested by a red rash or spots.
- When walking, the animal spreads its hind legs wide.
Inflammation begins with small reddish spots. After two days, papules grow from the spots. The papule is a nodular growth. After 24 hours, the inflammation turns into the vesicle stage. Inside the vesicles, the ailment is concentrated, immune cells, lymphocytes, are thrown there. Pus gradually accumulates in the vesicles. This is the result of the activity of lymphocytes. Pus consists of proteins of the dead virus, blood albumin, and spent immune cells. The pustular stage begins. The pustules are round or elongated. They are surrounded by a red rim and recessed in the middle.
Smallpox on the udder of a cow may show a small number of pustules. The pus inside the bladder dries out on the 12th day, a scab of dead skin cells appears. With a severe course of the disease, the number of nodules is large, they merge into one whole. The skin under the abscesses is inflamed and hard to the touch.
How the udder looks in cows with smallpox can be seen in the photo.
Disease prognosis
The prognosis of illness in cows is generally good, but if treatment is not started on time, serious complications can arise.
If smallpox in a cow is mild, the inflammatory process ends in 20 days or a month. With a severe form of the disease, it takes up to 2 months to recover.
In calves, the reproduction of the virus occurs in the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract. In case of untimely treatment, the pathogen enters the gastrointestinal tract. Complications of the disease in calves:
- bronchopneumonia;
- gastroenteritis.
If red spots appear on any part of the cattle body, it is necessary to isolate the animal and call a veterinarian to make an accurate diagnosis of cowpox. Treatment should be started immediately.
Cowpox diagnosis
Bovine viral disease is diagnosed by a veterinarian based on clinical signs and test results. For analysis use:
- Blood (tested for antibodies).
- Liquid from vesicles.
- Smears from the surface of the opened papules.
The contents of the vesicles are examined for the presence of vaccinia virus. In the veterinary laboratory, the biomaterial is cultivated. Determine the strain of the virus and the degree of its danger.
During the initial examination, it is important to distinguish this disease from FMD. In case of "foot and mouth disease" in cattle (cattle), aphthae - bubbles with a transparent liquid are formed in the interdigital space of the nasal passages. The content of the aft darkens within 2 days and comes out. Ulcers remain on the mucous membranes.
Cowpox treatment
After the diagnosis of cowpox is established, the sick animal is removed from the herd. This is important to keep your livestock safe from the virus. It is necessary to provide proper care for the cow, regularly ventilate the premises, carry out disinfection, and increase the number of feedings.
How is smallpox treated in cows? If smallpox is localized in cows only on the udder, treatment methods are used:
- Drug therapy. Treatment of a cow with smallpox involves the appointment of antibiotics. Antibiotics for chickenpox in cows have both therapeutic and prophylactic functions.
- Local disinfection, cauterization of ulcers. Used tincture of potassium iodide, borax, chloramine (3% solution).
- Healing wounds. Use petroleum jelly, ichthyol ointment. Smallpox in cows shows signs of irritation and inflammation on the delicate skin of the udder. The first stage is blisters, rash, the second stage is the appearance of wounds, the third stage is purulent wounds.
- Softening the skin. Apply ointments with vegetable oils and glycerin.
If the inflammatory process occurs in the nasal passages, a 3% boric acid solution is used for rinsing. The treatment of cowpox with folk remedies is popular.
A sick animal is given elderberry leaves, garlic cloves, blackberry and linden leaves along with food.
The udder is treated with a decoction of a mixture of elderberry and sorrel leaves. They are combined in equal proportions, cut into small pieces.Then the raw material is poured with a liter of water and boiled in a water bath. The wounds are washed daily. After the infection, the animal develops lifelong immunity.
What to do with a sick cow's milk
If a cow is infected with the virus, her milk yield is greatly reduced, but milk must be milked every day. The pathogen settles in the cells of the udder epithelium and can enter milk. A person is sensitive to the pathogen, therefore, raw milk cannot be drunk, only boiled for 5-7 minutes. Also, the product should not be consumed during antibiotic treatment of cattle. This can lead to dysbiosis and allergies.
On large farms, milk from sick cows and animals that have come into contact with them must be pasteurized. It goes to feed the young.
Prophylaxis
To avoid contracting cattle with this virus on large farms and small households, prevention rules must be followed. Preventive measures will help to reinsure against an accidental outbreak of the disease. Chickenpox in cows is a special form of the disease; its treatment requires a special medicine and prevention standards.
Prevention of infection in cattle:
- Do not purchase or import animals from farms where epidemics of a viral infection have been recorded. Buy food and equipment only from trusted people.
- The purchased cattle must be kept in quarantine for a month. During this period, it is important to conduct a complete examination of the animals.
- Maintain the condition of sheds, pastures in accordance with the requirements of sanitary standards.
- Make sure that only disinfected veterinary instruments and household equipment are used.
- If outbreaks of cattle morbidity are recorded in the area where the farm is located, the entire livestock needs to be vaccinated. A live virus vaccine is used.
One of the important preventive measures is the correct keeping of sick animals. It is very important to limit the contact of infected livestock with healthy animals at the farm as much as possible. If this is not done, there is a risk of a rapid spread of the disease to the entire livestock yard.
How to keep sick cows
Keeping sick cattle requires special conditions, because during this period the animal is too vulnerable to other infections. To speed up the recovery from smallpox of cows, to avoid infecting other individuals, the norms for keeping infected livestock must be observed:
- Infected cows, bulls or calves are housed in a separate room from the general herd. It shouldn't be damp, cold or hot. It is necessary to provide a temperature of 20-25 ° C and good ventilation. In such conditions, livestock feel comfortable, the treatment of a cow with smallpox is accelerated.
- Workers who have been vaccinated against the virus should take care of sick individuals.
- The premises are cleaned and sanitized 5 days after each opening of the abscesses. Disinfect the barn with hot alkali (4%), 2% formaldehyde or 20% slaked lime solution. It is also necessary to disinfect manure in order to avoid contamination of animals by the fecal-oral route. Manure is treated with bleach or simply burned.
- Milk containers for milk storage are treated with chloramine or sodium hypochlorite.
If there are cases of vaccinia on the farm, the owner and the veterinary service are obliged to report this to the appropriate supervisory authorities. Sanitary restrictions are imposed on the farm, which are lifted 21 days after the recovery of livestock, if there have been no new cases of infection. The final disinfection is carried out for prophylaxis in all premises where livestock is kept.
Safe handling of livestock
To prevent smallpox in cows on the udder from being transmitted to humans, simple preventive measures must be followed. On large farms, all workers are required to be vaccinated against cowpox. After vaccination, a person is released from working with animals for 14 days if the reaction is normal.If the reaction to the vaccine is complicated, then you can start duties only after a full recovery.
In small households, milkmaids should work in clean special clothing that remains within the barn and does not carry home. Before milking, be sure to wash your hands, treat the cow's udder with warm water and lubricate with disinfectants.
If, after working with a cow, a red rash, blisters appear on the hands, you need to see a doctor, call a veterinarian to examine the livestock. Also, the owner needs to be immediately examined by a dermatologist, because such a rash is a direct threat to humans.
Conclusion
Smallpox of cows has a viral etiology. Signs of the disease are a red rash, purulent blisters on the skin and mucous membranes in cattle. Before treating smallpox in cows, animals are isolated from the general herd.
Treating a cow for smallpox requires injections of antibiotics and regular antiseptic treatment of inflamed tissues. The vaccinia virus can infect humans, which is why mandatory vaccinations are carried out on large farms.