Report on the Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1953 Page: 9
177 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION AFFECTED BY ANIMAL DISEASES 9
has now been reported in 28 of the 48 States in the Union. Today
anaplamosis is widely recognized as a disease causing heavy death
and related serious losses resulting from decreased production of milk
and meat.
In spite of the fact that extensive research has been carried on
with respect to anaplasmosis in different parts of the United States
and in other parts of the world, there is at present insufficient information
to cope with the disease adequately and practically. (Report
on the Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1949, pp. 20-22.) Additional
information is needed on the method or methods by which
anaplasmosis is transmitted under natural conditions. It has been
shown experimentally that the disease can be transmitted by many
kinds of ticks and flies, but their specific role in the spread of the
disease under field conditions needs further investigation. Not all
potential vectors that can transmit the disease under controlled laboratory
conditions are necessarily the vectors of the disease under field
conditions. When, however, vectors that do actually transmit the
disease under natural conditions are fully determined it becomes
possible to seek methods for their control.
Adequate medicinal treatment for the disease is being sought. Thus
far, no drug has proved to be completely satisfactory and even those
drugs that appear to have some value in aiding the affected animal
to withstand and recover from an attack of the disease, do not destroy
its cause. Such animals remain carriers of the infection just as do
those that recover from an attack without drug treatment. Recovered
animals serve as reservoirs of infection and constitute a potential
source of disease to susceptible animals. Last year the Florida station
reported on the value of blood transfusions as a clinical treatment
for the disease. The Texas station is making additional tests along
these lines.
The Louisiana, Kansas, and Oklahoma stations have reported results
obtained in experiments where aureomycin and termmamycin
were used for treatment. In Louisiana these antibiotics showed.
promise as inhibitors of the agent that causes anaplasmosis, if treatment
is started early and is adequately supported by good nursing
care of the animals. Mortality was greatly reduced by the measures
mentioned, pointing to the possibility that ridding carriers of their
infection through use of the antibiotics may prove practical in controlling
outbreaks and eliminating spread of the disease.
The present geographical distribution of anaplasmosis in the United
States indicates that carrier animals have been responsible for the
spread of the disease from infected to noninfected areas. Current
movements of cattle from one section of the country to other sections
make it imperative that practical means be sought to detect such carriers
and thus eliminate them from trade channels. The complementfixation
test, modified for this purpose, has been used as a means for
identifying carrier animals by the Department and several State experiment
stations. The success of the test depends largely upon a
suitable antigen, or test fluid, which is used with the animal's blood
serum to determine anaplasmo'sis-free or anaplasmosis-infected cattle.
During the past year the Maryland station has made an effort to produce
a more effective antigen. Cooperative experiments with the
Louisiana and Oklahoma stations are now under way to test the efficacy
of the newly developed material.
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United States. Office of Experiment Stations. Report on the Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1953, book, 1953; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5989/m1/11/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.