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Tips For Successfull Battle Against Mycoplasma bovis

published: July 10th 2008
by: Jennie Schuttee
source: Pfizer Animal Health

STARKVILLE, Miss. (July 10, 2008) – When bovine respiratory disease (BRD) affects your operation, the dangerous complex wages a battle of illness, death and economic loss. Playing a significant role in the impact of BRD, Mycoplasma bovis is notorious for being difficult to identify and challenging to treat. Therefore, it is important to suit up with key information for a successful fight.

“In some classes of cattle, Mycoplasma bovis has grown to become one of the biggest concerns among respiratory pathogens,” said Daniel Scruggs, DVM, DACVP, Pfizer Animal Health. “However, it may be difficult to recognize early in the disease process, so treatment may be delayed, resulting in less favorable recovery. Like any other respiratory pathogen, the key to controlling and treating Mycoplasma bovis is early detection and effective antimicrobial therapy.”

Because respiratory disease caused by Mycoplasma bovis progresses slowly, the affected cattle may not show obvious signs of illness until much later than calves with respiratory disease caused by other pathogens. When left untreated during the earliest stages of infection, affected cattle become chronically ill or their recovery and return to productivity is diminished.

Typical early warning signs include a low-grade fever, slight cough, an increase in breathing rate, mild depression and runny eyes.

When deciding on a treatment method, it is critical to choose a proven, effective antibiotic that fights Mycoplasma bovis and the other major BRD pathogens to reduce chronics, reduce the loss of cattle due to BRD and avoid significant risks to performance.

“Early identification, intervention and successful control and treatment measures significantly increase the opportunities for a successful outcome against Mycoplasma bovis,” Scruggs adds.

Scruggs also emphasizes that strategies to minimize exposure of new incoming cattle to cattle already showing signs of Mycoplasma bovis are important to reducing new infections. Don’t keep chronics in hospital pens adjacent to new pulls or recently received cattle. Sort hospital cattle and remove non-responders to a location that does not jeopardize healthy or recently pulled cattle. 

With careful observation, early treatment and effective therapy, the fight against Mycoplasma bovis doesn’t need to become a war.

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