North Dakota top veterinarian reports first animal anthrax case of 2013
North Dakota agriculture officials is advising livestock owners to take the appropriate actions to protect their animals from the lethal bacterial disease, anthrax, after a cow turned up positive, according to a North Dakota Department of Agriculture news release June 5.
“A case of anthrax in an unvaccinated beef cow has been confirmed in Hettinger County near the Adams County line, the first confirmed case in the state this year,” said Dr. Susan Keller.
“Producers should consult with their veterinarians to make sure the vaccination schedule for their animals is up to date.”
Keller said effective anthrax vaccines are readily available, but that it takes about a week for immunity to be established, and it must administered annually.
Anthrax has been most frequently reported in northeast, southeast and south central North Dakota, but it has been found in almost every part of the state,” she said. “With the precipitation we have had, conditions are right for the disease to occur,” she said.
Anthrax is a pathogen in livestock and wild animals. Some of the more common herbivores are cattle, sheep, goats, horses, camels and deers.
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It infects humans primarily through occupational or incidental exposure with infected animals of their skins.
Anthrax is caused by the bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. This spore forming bacteria can survive in the environment for years because of its ability to resist heat, cold, drying, etc. this is usually the infectiousstage of anthrax.
When conditions become favorable, the spores germinate into colonies of bacteria. An example would be a grazing cow ingests spores that in the cow, germinate, grow spread and eventually kill the animal.
The bacteria will form spores in the carcass and then return to the soil to infect other animals. The vegetative form is rarely implicated in transmission.
There are no reports of person-to-person transmission of anthrax. People get anthrax by handling contaminated animal or animal products, consuming undercooked meat of infected animals and more recently, intentional release of spores.
There are three types of human anthrax with differing degrees of seriousness: cutaneous, gastrointestinal and inhalation.
North Dakota often records a few anthrax cases every year, but in 2005, more than 500 confirmed deaths from anthrax were reported with total losses estimated at more than 1,000 head. The dead animals included cattle, bison, horses, sheep, llamas and farmed deer and elk, according to agriculture officials.
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