Species-Specific Health and Disease Midterm 1 Flashcards
Housing conditions of pigs
Housed in large barns (most often indoors)
- Easier to monitor health and nutrition
- Climate control (pigs are very sensitive to extreme temperatures) (they also get sunburn)
- Increased biosecurity
Biosecurity
The World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) defines biosecurity in the Terrestrial Animal Health code as “a set of management and physical measures designed to reduce the risk of introduction, establishment and spread of animal diseases, infections or infestations to, from and within an animal population”
Behavioural needs of pigs
Foraging
Important steps in in maintaining biosecurity
Entrance restrictions
Shower in shower out
No pork products
No entering if ill
Closed herd
All-in, all-out production system
Good cleaning and disinfection protocols
Biosecurity risks for outdoor pigs
Often fed scraps (now illegal in Europe)
Eating off the ground leads to problems
Hard to control what comes into contact with pigs
Sometimes it’s hard to see them
Predation is a risk
Wild pigs are carriers of pig diseases
Stages of swine production
Farrowing room (0-3 weeks)
Weaning
Nursery (3-8 weeks)
Grower/finisher (8 weeks to 6 months)
Common pig diseases at the farrowing room stage
Infections (umbilical, joints)
Hypothermia
Starvation
Neonatal diarrhea
Greasy pig disease (opportunistic Staff bacteria, gets into open wounds, usually pretty minor)
Genetic abnormalities
Crushing (mothers crush their pigs)
Common pig diseases at the nursery stage
Respiratory disease
Lameness
Neurological disease
Diarrhea
Ear hematoma (Pretty much cauliflower ears)
Umbilical hernia
Common pig diseases ate the Grower/finisher stage
Lameness
Respitory disease
Gastric ulcers
GI torsion
Diarrhea
What diseases are sows prone to?
Reproductive losses (abortion, still born)
Reduced fertility
Lameness
GI or splenic torsion
Reduced milk production
Mastitis
Why do pigs need such high biosecurity?
They’re very susceptible to zoonotic disease, especially from humans
Emerging and high risk pig diseases
African swine fever (reportable) Not in canada
Foot and Mouth disease (reportable) Not in canada
Porcine epidemic diahrea (reportable) in canada
Swine influenza
MRSA and other superbugs
What organization do you need to be a part of to sell milk in Canada?
Dairy Farmers of Canada
Heifer Calves
cows before they start milk production
Dairy Cow production cycle
(Ideally 365 day cycle)
(305 days lactating)
- Breeding ~90 days postpartum
- Dried off at 305 days
60 day dry period
Calf production cycle
Calf born
- Calf removed from cow
Fed colostrum
- First milk produced by cow (high in antibodies)
Fed liquid feed and starter
- Amount fed is variable
Weaning
Bulls
- Often go into meat system
Heifers
- Put in the dairy system
How are calves raised
- Housed in individual pens (controversial, cows are herd animals)
- Automated (robotic) feeding system
- Strict biosecurity measures followed in the first 21 days for cow health
- After 21 days, calves are put in groups
How are dairy caws housed?
kept in barns
access to outdoors not always provided
Tie stall (Cows)
Cows are chained to their stall
Cows stay in their stall all day
Pros
- No competition for space or feed
- Easy to monitor
Cons
- Too many
THIS METHOD IS GETTING PHASED OUT
Bedded open housing
Just a big open space with bedding
Pros
Free movement
Cons
More labor needed for cleaning
Competition for feed
Milking systems (Cows)
Rotary system
Pipeline
- Hose takes milk from cows to barns
Robotic milking
Cows are milked 2-3 times a day
Takes ~10 minutes
Milk fever
Caused by calcium demand at onset of lactation
Signs:
- Staggering
- Inability to rise
- Muscular intake
Treatment
- IV calcium
Prevention
- Limit calcium intake pre-calving
- Cows don’t store calcium
If you limit calcium intake you manipulate calcium metabolism
Ketosis
Cows
Caused by negative energy balances (often 1-2 weeks post calving)
Signs
Low appetite
Weight loss
Decreased milk production
Prevention
maintain good body condition
Lameness (cows)
Major problem in dairy castle
- May be infectious or noninfectious
Caused by
- Lack of hoof trimming
- Slippery floors
Johne’s Disease (paratuberculosis)
Cows
Caused by mycobacterium avium species paratuberculosis
Related to bacteria causing tuberculosis and leprosy
Can be asymptomatic
~50% of albertan dairy herds are infected
Grows slowly and therefore delays immune response and detection
Only 5% of those infected develop disease
Johne’s disease handling and clinical signs
Handling
Don’t export infected herds
Clinical signs (18+ months)
- Intermitten diahrea
- Ventral endema
- Progressive weight loss
- Dehydration
- Rough hair coat
- Decreased milk production but normal appitite
Diognostic challenge
Grows too slowly for feasible detection
No treatment
Mastitis (Cow)
Inflammation of the mammary gland from bacteria moving up the teat canal to the udder
- Can be contagious or from environmental contact
- Detection from somatic cell count
Prevention
- Milking technique and hygiene
- Clean dry bedding
- Lack of teat tensions
Digital Dermatitis (cows)
Extremely contagious and causes painful foot lesions, decreased milk production, and fertility issues
Suspected bacterial (treponemes - gram negative)
Caused by poor hygiene
Treated with 5% copper sulfate, good management, and keeping a closed herd
Bovine Leukosis virus (BLV)
Caused by retrovirus (RNA) that slowly replicates in B-cells
Clinical signs seen in ~5% of cases
- Weight loss
- Inability to stand
- Enlarged lymph nodes
- Tumours (caused by infected B-cells)
Eradicated in some countries (not Canada)
Notifiable disease
What is a major cause a disease in the food animal industry?
POOR MANAGEMENT
Horse requirements
Horses are supposed to forage 16-19 hours of the day,
move freely 70% of the day (walk 60-80 km/day)
Horses are herd animals, and want to be around other horses
They require long stem forage to maintain a healthy gut
- Not always provided, especially for performance horses
Common horse conditions
Horses are kept in small stall for many hours (only come out for supervised exercise)
Turnout could be small, or a huge pasture
Feed could be concentrate based or forage based
Herd managed or individual
Horses are managed in many ways, and according to the code of practice, they’re all acceptable
Colic
Umbrella term for many clinical signs
- Includes gas pain to strangulated intestine
- Not a disease
Leading cause of death in horses
Clinical signs
- Rolling vigorously (note this is also a regular horse behavior, look to see if theres distress)
- Pacing
- Checking or kicking at belly
- Lack of appetite
- Inability to pass gas or feces
Colic prevention and treatment
Prevention
Provide continuous forage
Avoid sudden changes in diet
Avoid stress
Keep hydrated
Keep moving
Treatment
Appropriate pain management (type depends on cause)
Horses are very sensitive to pain management drugs
Surgery has ~50% success rate
Surgical cases have a high rate of complication
Common causes for injury in horses
Unsafe fences
Sharp objects
Holes
Rocks
Cast against fences
Inappropriate herdmates
Performance activities
Training (lots of practices put horses at high risk of injury)
Not providing adequate access to turn out (free movement) leads to more injury
Common treatment for horse injury
PRP (platelet rich plasma) injections
- Sample of blood from the horse gets put in a centrifuge, plasma cells are reinjected back into the horse)
Stem cell
- Hard to get enough of them from body, donated stem cells might get rejected by the body
Steroid injections
- Can be useful for things like chronic pain, but also can mask bigger problems
Shockwave therapy
- Sometimes helpful for soft tissue injuries (keeps ligaments flexible)
Chiropractic
- Not really science based
Acupuncture
Magnetic wave therapies
Surgery
- Last measure (recovery is hard for the horse)
Rest and rehabilitation is almost always the best option for horses
Dental Floats
Horses get their full set of adult teeth by ~5 years
Teeth grow continuously and are naturally offset from each other: ment for foraging
(around 20 years teeth don’t grow as much)
Teeth have sharp edges
“Floating” the teeth is required 1-2 times per years to eliminate sharp edges
- Power float is the safest option
Who should preform a dental float?
Floating should be done under light sedation by a licensed vet (NOT A “HORSE DENTIST”)
- Sedation is always a risk with horses
Signs of dental issues in horses
Quidding (uneven chewing rolled up to a ball)
Food dropping
Weight loss
Bad breath (horses breath should be nice)
Hoof Health
Hooves should be trimmed and balanced at 6-8 week intervals max
Hoof angle can influence lameness and future arthritis development
Abscesses common in unhygienic conditions
Sudden lameness is often caused by this
Cracks are bad
Wavy rings are bad
Laminitis: inflammation of hoof lamina
Extremely painful condition of the feet
Umbrella term for clinical signs
Caused by:
Metabolic diseases:PPID (Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction or Cushings)
Obesity
High starch diets
Immune hypersensitivity
Infection
Toxins
Compensatory limb laminitis (common after injury where the hours puts more wieght on another leg
Ingury
2nd leading cause of death in horses
Treatment for Laminitis
Careful management and addressing underlying cause
Soft ground
Tylenol works wonders
Surgical interventions
Therapeutic trimming/shoeing
Why is paratubercolosis so hard to diagnose?
It takes a long time to germinate
Clinical signs of BLV
Clinical signs (seen in ~5% of cases)
- Weight loss
- Inability to stand
- Enlarged lymph nodes
- Tumours (caused by infected B-cells)
What do you do if your cow tests positive for BLV
Testable, but untreatable
- Kill the cows, the milk is unacceptable
Signs of Laminitis
-Stiff gait
-Sawhorse stance (weight shifting to hind)
-Increased digital pulse (the pulse in the ankle joint is heavier)
-Hot feet
What do you need to diagnose laminitis?
You need to radiograph the animal.
Clinical signs alone are not enough
Colostrum
First milk produced by cow (high in antibodies)
How often should horse hooves be trimmed?
Every 6-8 weeks
Clinical signs of colic
Clinical signs
- Rolling vigorously (note this is also a regular horse behavior, look to see if theres distress)
- Pacing
- Checking or kicking at belly
- Lack of appetite
- Inability to pass gas or feces
Equine infectious anemia (EIA)
• A CFIA reportable disease that results in euthanasia → remain
carriers for life
• RNA enveloped retrovirus that invades macrophage
• Incubation period 1wk-3M but usually 2-4 weeks
• Spread by biting insects and reused needles
• Often triggered by something stressful
• Can have temporary recovery then relapse
• Can be contagious without clinical signs
Clinical signs of EIA
• anorexia
• depression
• general weakness
• intermittent fever up to 41°C
• jaundice
• small hemorrhages under the tongue and eye
• swelling of the extremities
• weight loss
Coggins testing
Coggins testing
Specialized blood test to detect
antibodies for EIA virus
Required for most performance
activities and cross-border transport
Transmission and clinical signs of Strangles (Streptococcus equi)
• Spread by direct contact or
environmental contamination
• Contagious prior to clinical signs
• Infects lymph nodes
• Clinical signs include: fever, nasal
discharge, swollen lymph nodes,
abscesses
• Vaccine not super effective
West Nile Virus
• Mosquito borne RNA, enveloped virus that infects and
kills birds
• Causes neurological signs and sometimes fever but can
be asymptomatic
• Zoonotic but only causes disease in ~20%
• No treatment but effective vaccine
Stangles
Also called horse distemper
• Upper respiratory disease
• Caused by gram + bacteria
• Horses can be shedding bacteria for up to 6wks after clinical signs clear up, or
become life long spreaders of the disease
