Bovine Ephemeral fever or Dengue fever of cattle:
health Tags: Bovine, cattle, Dengue, Ephemeral, FeverNo Comments »
Bovine Ephemeral fever or Dengue fever of cattle:
Bovine ephemeral fever or Dengue fever of cattle also known as Three Day Sickness is an arthropod vector-borne disease of cattle and is caused by bovine ephemeral fever virus.
common symptoms of BEF:
Biphasic to ployphasic fever
2.shivering
3.inappetence
4.profuse drooling
5.serous nasal discharge
6.atony of rumen
7.Depression
8.stiffness and lameness
9.affected cattle
may become recumbent
and paralyzed from 8 hours to 7 days.
10.sudden reduction in
milk production in milch
cows.
Differential diagnosis :
1.foot and mouth disease
2.hypocalcaemia
3.foot rot
4.fracture of bones in limbs
5.Black quarter disease
Bovine Ephemeral Fever (BEF), commonly known as ‘three day sickness’, causes a short but significant fever, drooling, shivering, a discharge from eyes and nose, lameness and muscular soreness.
Animals may become recumbent for a day or two. For the most part, BEF is a mild transient illness hence the name ‘three day sickness’. But some animals can be more significantly affected and cattle deaths can result. Thus the disease and the need to manage cases shouldn’t be underestimated.
In particular heavy animals such as bulls and big cows may be most severely affected. A transient infertility in bulls can occur and a small proportion of pregnant cows can abort, presumably from the high fever.
Early veterinary treatment can mediate these impacts and prevent animals from becoming recumbent. Good nursing care can be the difference between affected cattle recovering in the normal three-day window or succumbing to secondary health effects from dehydration, particularly in hot weather, or sustained recumbency.
For information on vaccinating your herd or managing BEF, please contact your private veterinarian or discuss with our team at LLS by calling 1300 795 299.
