I posted about this on another forum. But also going to post it here. Bought cattle from a reputable breeder, at a complete herd dispersal sale on Sept 12 & 13. Bought 3 open yearlings and a bred heifer. To our luck, a cattleman (who wasn't at the sale, nor did he buy any) called up my husband to tell him to get our new girls checked for anaplasmosis, as there have been some die that came from that sale. Tested all 4 this morning (Monday morning), all 4 are positive with active parasites. The bred heifer has low packed red blood cells at 21%, the others are somewhere between 35 to 39%. We have been treating with ctc since the 24th, treated the bred heifer with LA200, and will start the rest of our herd on ctc tomorrow. I'm so p!ssed about it. I buy from what I thought was reputable breeder only to find out what I have now exposed to my herd. I sure hope all of my girls stay healthy and keep their pregnancies. I'll be up creek without a paddle if we start aborting calves. I can't sell these new girls as I'd only get a fraction of what we paid. It's a learning experience I guess.
anaplasmosis
- Thread starter Emigkj07
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ROAD WARRIOR
Well-known member
I've also been hearing a lot of reports of infected cattle coming from the sale. Sick cattle, aborted fetuses and cattle that never recovered and died within days of the sale. Bad deal for all involved. Anyone who purchased cattle in that sale are now at risk of contamination of their herd and the financial burden may be far more far reaching than anyone knows at this point. I guess I would be surprised if the sellers were oblivious to what was happening at the time of the sale. I would also assume that there was a veterinary on staff for the sale. It would seem that some one should have known what was going on. RW
Yeah I have a real hard time believing that someone didn't know. If they are dropping with in 2 weeks of the sale, surely they were loosing them before the sale. So far I've only lost about $150 in ctc, LA200, and vet bills. But if we start loosing fetuses and cows, I don't know what we'll do. Our entire herd is now at risk, as is anyone who brought home live cattle from that sale. I'd be interested in hearing what those who have lost cows/fetuses are going to do about it. Surely that seller has to have some responsibility for selling cattle with active parasites? If they were just carriers it'd be one thing but some of them are very sick cattle.
Nasty disease. Endemic here…thus consequently exceedingly rare to see symptoms let alone a cause of death. Not the case with incoming naive cattle. Absolutely mandatory that those be vaccinated immediately upon arrival and preferably well in advance.
Possible but highly improbable that the seller and mgt was oblivious to the pending disaster.
"Reputable" is often as not bestowed capriciously. The old saw buyer beware comes to mind.
Possible but highly improbable that the seller and mgt was oblivious to the pending disaster.
"Reputable" is often as not bestowed capriciously. The old saw buyer beware comes to mind.
I also was at the sale and bought one cow. Luckily because I was tired when I got home I didn't take her to the pasture. I put her with 3 other head. I heard about it 4 days after the sale so have left them separate. Treated her right away with Bio 300. Sent blood off last week got results today. Yes positive. The biggest thing is knowing if she will be a carrier. Reputable breeder is someone who has been in the business for more than 6 or 7 years. The whole sale was a good indication they really didn't know what they were doing. Sorry for being harsh. I have 2 registered herds and also commercial cattle. Have been in the business for over 25 years. I don't know any purebred breeder that would have done this. I know that someone saw a cow die in the pen on Friday, day before the sale. Have heard that several died the weeks before. Either they were incredibly ignorant to not know there was a problem, or they just didn't care. I heard of several dead since sale. Someone said they are refunding money, someone else heard lawsuits. I agree, the damage this is causing is probably far beyond imaginable. I would defiantly ask them for your money back for what you bought if you don't want to keep them. But should they also pay for the testing and treatment of the rest of your herd? They have no idea what they have done. That's why we shouldn't let oil people in the cattle business. Sorry this really makes me mad.
When we move animals from one area of the country to another... sometimes you get 'more than you bargained for'...
Our knowledge of anaplasmosis - and diagnostic tests available, as well - have improved significantly in the last few years. There's a lot of outdated information still hanging out there on the 'net.
Rw86,
If this cow is seropositive, she IS a carrier.
The cELISA test we now have available is very sensitive and specific; the old CF test we used to have to depend on was pretty crappy... with lots of false negatives... gave us the idea that you could 'clear' the infection with two doses of long-acting oxytet, and probably contributed to distributing the disease to areas where it had not previously been present.
Truth is, you CANNOT get enough oxytet in a cow to 'clear' the infection, even with multiple treatments...OTC only suppresses the organism long enough for the animal to ramp up production of red blood cells, and survive... but they're persistently infected, and while they will not likely develop clinical disease again, they can serve as a potential source of infection for previously non-exposed animals.
'Clearance' of the infection would require feeding high levels of CTC for 60 days or more; and may require 3-6 months for titer to drop to negative status.
Check with your veterinarian for details on treatment/management - but be aware... not all are 'up to date' on the current state of knowledge about this disease.
Their is an inactivated anaplasmosis vaccine available - currently licensed on a state-by-state basis, requiring approval of the state veterinarian - it will not prevent infection, but prevents clinical disease; vaccinated animals will be seropositive(even if not infected).
Anaplasmosis is almost a 'fact of life' down here in the Southeastern US... saw three cows with it through the diagnostic lab just yesterday; have been seeing them on a regular basis since back in August, I'm fielding calls from vets & producers about it almost every day...
Our knowledge of anaplasmosis - and diagnostic tests available, as well - have improved significantly in the last few years. There's a lot of outdated information still hanging out there on the 'net.
Rw86,
If this cow is seropositive, she IS a carrier.
The cELISA test we now have available is very sensitive and specific; the old CF test we used to have to depend on was pretty crappy... with lots of false negatives... gave us the idea that you could 'clear' the infection with two doses of long-acting oxytet, and probably contributed to distributing the disease to areas where it had not previously been present.
Truth is, you CANNOT get enough oxytet in a cow to 'clear' the infection, even with multiple treatments...OTC only suppresses the organism long enough for the animal to ramp up production of red blood cells, and survive... but they're persistently infected, and while they will not likely develop clinical disease again, they can serve as a potential source of infection for previously non-exposed animals.
'Clearance' of the infection would require feeding high levels of CTC for 60 days or more; and may require 3-6 months for titer to drop to negative status.
Check with your veterinarian for details on treatment/management - but be aware... not all are 'up to date' on the current state of knowledge about this disease.
Their is an inactivated anaplasmosis vaccine available - currently licensed on a state-by-state basis, requiring approval of the state veterinarian - it will not prevent infection, but prevents clinical disease; vaccinated animals will be seropositive(even if not infected).
Anaplasmosis is almost a 'fact of life' down here in the Southeastern US... saw three cows with it through the diagnostic lab just yesterday; have been seeing them on a regular basis since back in August, I'm fielding calls from vets & producers about it almost every day...
sue
Well-known member
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Lucky- thanks for the updated information. I have very little knowledge of anaplasmosis, other then it is one of a several things you have to test for to send cattle to Canada.
Sue,
The abysmal performance (though it was all we had to work with at the time) of the old CF test was responsible, in large part, for some of the previous outbreaks of anaplasmosis in Canada and northern-tier US states, as animals frequently tested negative (though they were false negatives)... and made the move, bringing the parasite along with them.
The cELISA test we now have available will detect carriers, as well as animals that are still in the incubation period 4-6 weeks after infection, but before they break with clinical disease.
The abysmal performance (though it was all we had to work with at the time) of the old CF test was responsible, in large part, for some of the previous outbreaks of anaplasmosis in Canada and northern-tier US states, as animals frequently tested negative (though they were false negatives)... and made the move, bringing the parasite along with them.
The cELISA test we now have available will detect carriers, as well as animals that are still in the incubation period 4-6 weeks after infection, but before they break with clinical disease.
Rw86 said:
well i think i will be making phone calls next week. Could they really have not known? i mean seriously, how could they not know, right? my 4 new girls have impacted up to 50 head. i cant even begin to imagine how many head this sale could affected. well at least we have learned a lot from this, and so far, no big loss. Thanks everyone for all the support and suggestions you have given. it helps to hear from others!
If I were in your shoes, everyone involved with this dispersal would have heard from me loud and clear the minute I had the test results in hand. Looking at the big picture and based on the catalog…likely an exercise in futility.
IF this is the sale I suspect you're referring to (and no, I'm NOT fishing or nudging you to divulge it…under the circumstances, I find it quite admirable that you've refrained from doing so) the catalog introductory page(s) were decidedly unique: Two pages of warm and fuzzy accolades from a program initiated a mere 5 years ago cobbled together from a plethora of programs. Long in the tooth here so it was an enormous Red Flag that the catalog failed to include a typical, perfunctory herd health program, statement of their willingness to accommodate inter state and out of the country shipment and perhaps most telling, no publicized guarantee of any kind be it their own program nor the guidelines of either the RAA or AAA.
Jive Turkey
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They're going to need all of that oil money to get out of this one!Rw86 said:
MacAtee said:
Multiple reasons I didn't call right away. I'm not a confrontational person, so it just made me nervous. Also I felt like we didn't have a leg to stand on as so far we have only lost approx $200.
Once we got home and started discussing plans for the heifers, I realized they never talked about their feed/development programs (and I felt like those cows were huge. Deep bodied, big wide pelvis).
We had talked to one red angus breeder and she said they were a nice family, just couldn't make it.
When we got the catalog, we were disappointed with ww and yw epds. I like to see yw above 90, and I felt like their yw averaged into the 70s? Once we seen the cows, I was even more confused, because I feel like a cow that big, with that low of an me should have a much higher yw. Is my thinking twisted or is that correct?
Wow just reread that, and it is all over the place! Lol sorry about that.
First off I'd really hate to be the vet that signed off on the herd health! It wasn't like they didn't know there was an outbreak of it locally.
But it was a dispersal, of a just passing through to do a tax shelter, multiplier ranch. And it was the most disorganized dispersal I had ever witnessed. One would not wish what has happened on anybody but if it was it was going to happen with a group ran like this.
At dispersals it is "buyer beware" more than usual. Besides, if one searched this site how many times would they find similar types of train wrecks when buying at dispersals?
But it was a dispersal, of a just passing through to do a tax shelter, multiplier ranch. And it was the most disorganized dispersal I had ever witnessed. One would not wish what has happened on anybody but if it was it was going to happen with a group ran like this.
At dispersals it is "buyer beware" more than usual. Besides, if one searched this site how many times would they find similar types of train wrecks when buying at dispersals?
ROAD WARRIOR
Well-known member
I wasn't at the sale so I really don't know how the cattle were represented by the owners or the sale management. If they were represented to be healthy, breeding cattle by either or both entities, that could open up a whole new can of worms. Announcements made from the auction block by authorized sale representation takes precedence over printed material. Being that the sale management is not bonded or licensed with the by the USDA as required by law, there may not be much recourse against them other than a personal law suit. If the owners were properly structured through their corporation there may not be much recourse there as well as that entity may just cease to exist. If there was a vet writing health papers for interstate shipment at the sale, it is very possible that they may lose their licence and be subject to fines and penalty. I can't stress enough, make sure your sale management is bonded and licensed (a big percentage are not), deal with people you can trust and read all of the statements printed in every catalog regarding the terms, conditions and health of the sale animals.
nkotb
Well-known member
I also was not at the sale, but talked to a few who were and a few who bought animals. Everyone I know that bought animals kept them quarantined pending an anaplas test. I also heard there was an announcement made that there was a chance the cattle could be infected with anaplas. Again, I was not there, just what I have heard.
cowsrcuddly
Well-known member
The Sale was a dispersal in Kansas. Sounds like there were a lot of positive cattle sold.
Of the people that I talked to that purchased cattle, each person had at least one positive test.
This may cause a test for anaplas before selling cattle out of state at some sales this spring.
Of the people that I talked to that purchased cattle, each person had at least one positive test.
This may cause a test for anaplas before selling cattle out of state at some sales this spring.
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