Babesiosis - Cattle
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- Cattle
- Sudden onset
- Often fatal if untreated
- Causes 'pipestem' faeces
- Clumping of red blood cells in brain capillaries can occur causing neurological signs
Epidemiology
- Determined by:
- Number of infected ticks seeking a blood meal (tick pressure)
- Calves under 9 months are refractory to disease
- Can develop immunity if exposed without showing clinical signs
- 'Premunity' (a good protective immunity) develops quickly in infected cattle causing a 'carrier state'
- Immunity can wane in the absence of re-infection
- Uninfected cattle remain susceptible
- Predisposing factors:
- Susceptible animals introduced into an infected area
- Infected ticks introduced into a clean area
- Infected cattle introduced into an area with clean ticks
- Temporary reduction in the tick population decreasing the transmission rate (causing enzootic instability)
- Infected are transported or stressed in other ways, e.g. parturition
- In the UK
- Sporadic disease
- Enzootic instability
- Occurs mostly during the spring and autumn during periods of greatest tick activity
- Occurs mostly in stressed cattle under 2 years old on rough grazing
- B. divergens the most common species
- Ixodes ricinus is the vector
- Trans-ovarial transmission to the next generation occurs
- B. major occurs in South East England but is not pathogenic
- Vector is Haemaphysalis