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Mike & Ray Rammelao RMW FARMS LTD. 519-523-9362 RR #4 Brussels PAGE A-14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2002. Agriculture 2002 Many questions surround mycoplasma In pain Mycoplasma has resulted in lameness in this animal. (Courtesy photo). By Bonnie Gropp Citizen editor If you feed cattle, you probably have encountered mycoplasma. Ken. Bateman, of the Ontario Veterinary College, says that 30 years ago, the bacteria primarily caused arthritis in cattle, but in the past 10-15 year period irhas been creeping in as pneumonia. "It's not as well recognized, but I'm sure we saw it well before 1995 here." Historically, he says, fed cattle prior to 1990 were often victims of shipping fever pneumonia. Since then mycoplasma pneumonia and polyarthritis have begun to appear. "It is becoming increasingly impor- tant." While shipping fever leaves the lung feeling much like liver, a lung infected with mycoplasma looks like it has been hit by a shotgun blast. Calling it a debilitating, painful dis- ease, Bateman said "the animals don't have the decency to die, but linger awhile and make life miser- able." While a few cases will just experi- ence pneumonia about four-fifths will suffer as well from arthritis. This affects the joints and soft tissue as well as the tendons. Inside the lung there will be micro-abscesses and it will develop a "cheesy" tex- ture. Some studies show that some lungs may have had a bit of both shipping fever and mycoplasma pneumonia, says Bateman. "If you've had this (in your cattle) you know it's a painful series of events." Because it is often difficult to diagnose, the afflicted animal will first be treated for respiratory dis- ease, but will relapse in seven to 10 days. There may not be lameness at this point. The joints affected in the front leg are usually from the knee upward and from the hock upward in the rear leg. The animal will be treated again, and the joint will begin to swell. Sometimes more than one joint can be involved. "However, in some cases," says Bateman, "it can be a puzzlement as to why the animal can't stand or is lame because some- times the joints don't show any swelling." The animal will be treated several times, and Bateman says the produc- er will often feel like he's wasting time and money. "It's extremely painful around the joint and pretty hard to get an antibiotic in there to do any good." At this point if the animal can be put in a convalescent pen, that pro- vides extra shelter and better footing, there can be a success rate of up to 90 per cent, but more often around 50-60 per cent. The animal is susceptible to other diseases, and while they are long past the point when a farmer might want to give them antibiotics, they should be monitored to see if other pneumonias develop. "It can be a bit of an embarrass- ment from an animal welfare stand- point as it appears nothing is being done for the animal. It's frustrating; you don't want to abandon hope, but some people may not understand what's going on in that pen." "If good body condition can be maintained, there is hope." Why is the disease showing up? Bateman offers several theories, but admits that there is no clear answer. One thing noted was the evidence of BVD virus in the animal. "There's a step missing, though, because they don't know if the 50 per cent out there doing fine have been exposed to BVD. It's possible BVD has become more pathogenic, but stories are not complete." Another theory is whether or not there has been a change in mycoplas- ma. "We need to look and see if we've changed something that's allowed it to become more virulent." Bateman theorized about whether the "excellent control of shipping fever" has given mycoplasma new power. Quoting Eugene Jansen of the University of Saskatchewan, Bateman says, "Nature abhors a vac- uum." "Once you wipe something out, minimize its impacts, something else comes along." -- It is possible that a resistance to the antibiotics has been developed. Or Bateman ponders, has less moni- toring given disease an opportunity to appear?"It used to be when an ani- mal was sick if the condition hadn't changed in 24 hours we changed the antibiotic. Now we give long-lasting antibiotics and don't monitor the response as closely." Admitting that there are a lot of questions behind any of these con- cepts, Bateman says, "it would be foolish to ignore things we know to be different." With no clear answers on what has caused the problem, researchers are equally challenged on finding ways to control it. Bateman suggests min- imizing the respiratory diseases. "It's important to keep chronics sepa- rate," he says, adding that this is dif- ficult to do on a small feedlot. "But you don't want diseases transferred. It's wise to invest in a separate facil- ity." While vaccination is "attractive", Bateman says that studies have raised big questions on whether the current vaccines are a solutidn. Working on an Ontario Feedlot Mortality Study since 2001, which has been sponsored by the Ontario Cattlemen's Association, Bateman says they have attempted to docu- ment causes of mortality; define the relationship of BVD, mycoplasma and chronic pneumonia; determine antibiotic potential and other Continued on A-15 "' A closer look The swollen hock is clearly visible in the leg of this animal, (Courtesy photo) Trucks & Bulldozers Gravel available now for delivery Blyth 523-4581 or fax 523-9142 Book your spring lane gravel today! GEORGE RADFORD' CONSTRUCTION Limited II Gravel n Fill I Stone Call Doug for your FREE ESTIMATE