When researching diseases that affect animals, I chose to research one that deals with cattle. This disease would be a reproductive venereal disease called vibriosis. Vibriosis can affect all breeds of cattle, male or female, and is the most important cause of infertility in female cattle along with occasional abortions. This disease is caused by bacteria that live in the crevices of a bull’s prepuce, of a bull aged four years or older (Hansen, 1914). Age is a factor because the foreskin of a bull does not develop until then. The disease is spread from an infected bull to a cow during breeding. A bull might be clean, but then infected by a cow who was infected by a bull before him. Many bulls can go years without showing any signs of this disease, whereas female cattle may lose a calf to an abortion the next coming calving season.
Again, the major upsets this disease causes is infertility and abortions (Hansen, 1914). Vibriosis in females causes endometritis. This means there is a failure to conceive or the death of the embryo. Affected cows may conceive and not return to heat 21 da...
This case study shows the effect of CJD. The story has been said to be on the natural occurring CJD but is still in the family with the same kind of effects as vCJD. It is just contracted differently. According to Rocky Mountain News in an article written by Lou Kilzer, Tracie Mcewen noticed something wrong for the first time on Mother’s Day of 1998 (Kilzer). Doug, her husband, always made her homemade cards for Mother’s Day, but he did not this year. Although Tracie thought Doug was mad at her or just being forgetful, he died ten months later from a rare brain ravaging disease (Kilzer). After his death an autopsy showed that it was not Mad Cow Disease. Some scientists wondered if his and four other deaths were somehow connected to a related disease in deer and elk called (CWD) Chronic Wasting Disease, considering that Doug was an avid hunter (Kilzer). Before losing Doug, Tracie wrote the following accounts of the ravages for
In ruminants, no symptoms were seen after the first abortion; but these infected animals could develop a chronic disease and become chronic carriers, and during subsequent pregnancies, Brucella could be found in milk and uterine discharges of these carriers.3
Normally, cows in Northern Europe in places such as Denmark live normal lives simply grazing on grass, and existing. However, there have been recent changes that have disrupted this normal activity. Generally the bluetongue virus (spread by Culicoides imicola, a biting midge) has been confined to Southern Europe and other places around the Mediterranean. But with the increase in temperature throughout the area, the midge has been allowed to migrate northward. This new pest is a nuisance and causes lots of difficulties to farmers in the area. When a cow contracts this disease, they usually also receive oral ulcers, salivation, stiffness, fever and eventually the inevitable- death (Merck Veterinary Manual NP). Because of the increase in temperature, midges have spread around the globe infecting livestock and creating terrible trouble for many farmers.
Wagner, Neil . "Treatments for Mad Cow." The Atlantic. N.p., 11 Oct 2011. Web. 13 Apr 2014. .
cattle. Between the years 1992 and 1995, a major BSE outbreak occurred in Great Britain, which caused
BSE has been seen to progress very slowly in relation to other diseases, however is very contagious and fatal for not only cattle, but humans as well. While many diseases that are transmittable from animals to humans will affect the young or older humans, the median age of those infected with Mad Cow Disease is 26 (2). BSE has been linked to a fatal brain disease in humans referred to as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or vCJD. Eating meat from an infected cow is what many presume to be the cause of vCJD in humans (3). Symptoms include movement deficits, memory disturbances and cognitive impairments, all of which lead to an eventual death. The majority of the BSE cases reported have primarily been outside of the United States; from 2003 to 2012 23 cases were identified in North America, 4 of which in the United States (1). This may seem to be a small amount, however because it is believed to be transmitted through the meat of cattle it can be extremely dangerous and be shipped all over the United States before it is ever identified.
Endometriosis appears to be caused by multiple factors such as the implantation of endometrial tissue outside of the endometrium, immune dysfunction, abnormal hormonal signaling, and genetics.
Rift Valley Fever is a viral zoonotic disease that is arthropod-borne.1, 2, 3, 4 This viral disease primarily affects domestic animals but has the ability to affect humans.1, 3, 4 The severity of the disease can range from mild to severe and can be potentially fatal.1 An epidemic in the animal population, also known as an epizootic, could result in increased economic loss as the disease leads to livestock death and spontaneous abortion among pregnant animals .1, 2, 3, 4 A reduction in trade could also result contributing to further economic loss.1, 2, 3, 4 The virus which causes Rift Valley Fever is in the family Bunyaviridae and the genus Phlebovirus.1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Bacterial vaginosis is identified with patient with high incidence of endometritis and pelvic inflammatory disease status post abortion and/or gynecological procedures (Hainer & Gibson, 2011). This vaginal infection, bacterial vaginosis, has been associated with status post and postpartum endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and during pregnancy, late fetal loss and spontaneous preterm birth (Verstraelen, Verhelst, Vaneechoutte, & Temmerman, 2010).
... animals can become infected as the meat is infested with pathogens. There is furious debate over the issue of overuse of antibiotics to treat animals.
Segelken, Roger H. "Simple change in cattle diets could cut E. coli infection." Cornell Chronicle . Ed. Susan Lang. N.p., 8 Sept. 1998. Web. 24 Feb. 2014.
According to CDC statistics there are 80,000 illness and 100 death annually in the USA that is related to vibriosis in general (CDC, 2016); moreover, about 95% of seafood food poising cases in the USA are caused by Vibrio Vulnificus. (Outbreaknewstoday, 2015)
The cause of endometriosis continues to remain unknown. It has been researched for many decades and...
“Disease raises concerns about animal farms in Iowa.” Thegazette.com. Gazette, 21 Sept. 2012. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
Every woman when pregnant has a 3-5% chance of having a baby born with a birth defect, and these chances increase when the developing fetus/ embryos are exposed to teratogens, whether it’s intentional or unintentional (Bethesda (MD), 2006). Teratogens can cause severe birth defects, malformations, or terminate the pregnancy altogether (Jancárková, & Gregor, 2000). The placenta is known as an effective barrier from any detrimental pathogen that can potentially hurt the fetus. The timing of exposure of any teratogen is critical to the impact of prenatal development (Bethesda (MD), 2006). The most vulnerable time of the fetus for severe damage is during early pregnancy when all the major organ and central nervous system (CNS) are developing. Miscarriages have an important role in keeping a pregnancy from evolving when there is something serious going on with the developing fetus/embryo. Miscarriages are more common than we think and are the most familiar type of pregnancy loss (Bethesda (MD), 2006).