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Bovine Johne’S Disease

When purchasing dairy cattle, have you considered the current Bovine Johne’s Disease (BJD) status of the vendor’s and your herds, and calf-rearing procedures on both properties?

By Department of Primary Industries - 25th June 2004 - Back to News

To minimise the risk of introducing BJD onto your property and to minimise the spread of the disease if already there, the BJD status of introduced cattle and calf-rearing procedures on both farms are two areas to think about. In a random sample of dairy herds on the BJD control program, approximately half the initial cases of BJD were introduced cattle and not home-bred cattle.

Purchasers should insist on a BJD Vendor Declaration or a DPI health certificate with every consignment of cattle purchased. This will inform you of the official BJD status of the herd of cattle to be purchased. Also, where possible, the purchaser should visit the vendor’s property to view the calf- rearing arrangements.

Both the BJD vendor declaration and health certificate are available from any DPI office. Please remember that DPI staff cannot disclose confidential information about another person’s herd or property without that person’s written approval.

Many Nil Assured (NA) dairy herds in Victoria are likely to be infected with BJD and can present a high risk of introducing BJD to other herds. Cattle raised under the Johne’s Disease calf rearing accreditation program (JDCAP) from Tested Low Prevalence (TLP) and Restricted (RD1 & RD2) dairy herds have a low risk of being infected with BJD.

The introduction of JDCAP-raised cattle from a TLP or RD herd does not compromise the BJD status of the herd in to which they are introduced. Therefore, cattle from these herds are likely to be less of a gamble with respect to BJD than the introduction of cattle of unknown risk from a non-assessed dairy herd.

Further information about BJD and JDCAP can be obtained from Animal Health staff at your nearest DPI office.

DRYING COWS OFF

Drying cows off is an important job – the consequences of a bad job can be severe.

It is important that milk production levels be at appropriate levels at drying off. Aim to put cows out when they are producing between 5 and 15 litres of milk per day with 10 litres per day ideal.

Dry cow antibiotics require some milk to be present in the udder for it to dissolve properly and disperse throughout the udder. A cow should have milk, but any more than 15 litres per day and you run the risk of diluting the antibiotic in the udder.

For cows that are to receive dry cow it is important to allow enough time to do the job properly. A single operator can dry off around 20-30 cows per hour, so don’t plan to throw 300 cows out on a single day. It takes time to prepare and swab all teats, insert tubes correctly and dip the teats afterwards. Rushing increases the chance of introducing mastitis into the udder. Dry period infections are very destructive.

All cows teats should be clean and dry before administering tubes. Wash them if necessary and then ensure they are completely dry before proceeding. Teat swabbing is a vital step. Make a mixture of 70% methylated spirits and 30% water. When using cotton swabs, use one of these for each teat. An alternative is to use a roll of toilet paper. Use a fresh sheet for each teat. Swab the teat end in a circular manner and then inspect the swab. If the swab is dirty, discard it and repeat the process with a fresh swab. Keep going until the swab becomes clean. Allow the teat to air dry and then proceed to tube insertion. Do not touch any part of the tube that is to go inside the teat and try not to scrape the lining of the teat canal when inserting. Massage the contents high up into the udder. The job is not finished until the udder is thoroughly teat dipped.

Check all cows daily for the next week. Watch for hot, swollen, red udders and sick cows. Inspect all potential cases for mastitis and if there is a flare up, treat the cow with a course of lactating tubes until the infection is under control. Do not leave them or just insert another dry cow tube.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com

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