Bovine Leukemia Virus is a hidden but damaging infection. In fact, it could be in your herd right now, and you would likely not even know it is there. It already has a significant impact on the cattle industry at large.
This virus has already caused significant losses in the cattle industry, though currently more in the dairy industry than in the beef one. Your more direct cost will be due to loss of production, veterinary expenses, as well as replacement costs from the death of affected animals. Some of your indirect costs will be from loss of revenue due to the restrictions placed on your operation. A large Northeast slaughter plant that processes 350,000 cattle each year will condemn about 2,000 carcasses due to this disease.
Once it appears in your place, the ability to get rid of this disease will differ from herd to herd. The primary determining factor will be the producer’s ability to prevent it from horizontally transmitting. Having a good herd health plan in place will go a long way in preventing this from being catastrophic.
Summer pneumonia, sometimes referred to as pasture pneumonia, is a disease that is usually observed in calves on pasture late in summer. It can affect calves that have yet to be weaned from just one-month-old to even five months of age. The issue with this disease is that not much is known about it, and it can pop up from nowhere.
Bovine Leukemia Virus is a hidden but damaging infection. In fact, this thing could be in your herd right now and you would likely not even know it is there. It already has a major impact on the cattle industry at large.
Trich, or the more scientific name Trichomoniasis, is a very serious economic problem for cattle producers. Some of the problems that it can cause are a reduced calf crop as well as lower weaning weights. It can cause this because it makes your breeding cows infertile and possibly causes a longer breeding season.
