I will be speaking on another livestock problem this morning, a contagious one at that. Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia is an infectious and contagious disease that mainly affects cattle. It is caused by, Mycoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides(Mmm).
The infection is transmitted among cattle through direct or close contact, the transmission is done within an already infected animal and a susceptible animal. The disease is considered old even if not so much is known about its origin.
Transmission is done through inhalation of droplets from an animal that is coughing especially when the cough is in its acute phase. Transplacental infection is also a strong possibility.
The infection-causing organism is found in, uterine discharge, fetal membrane, saliva, and urine. It can be transmitted from an infected animal to a susceptible one.
The movement and gathering of cattle within the same space is a strong factor in the spread of infection.
This disease is a highly infectious one with great economic effects, and it remains a major problem for most sub-Saharan African countries.
CBPP is the most infectious cattle disease, and it was first described in Germany in 1693, the disease affects the lungs, fever, respiratory distress, and anorexia.
The incubation phase is usually 3 weeks to 6 months, and most cases becomes more visible within 3 to 8 weeks of infection.
The disease may occur in preacute, acute, subclinical, and chronic forms.
Treating the infection with antibiotics is not usually recommended because it can produce healthy-looking animals who are still infected and can spread the disease. In most cases, the control of infection is based on detecting an outbreak on time, control of animal movements, and a stamping out policy.
Following this strategy, the disease has been successfully eliminated from Europe and North America. In a country like Africa however, the disease is managed through vaccination campaigns.
The cattle that have CBPP could die acutely without showing any clinical signs other than fever. In an acute case, signs like fever, loss of appetite, drop in milk production, depression. These signs are followed by respiratory signs nasal discharge, rapid respiration, and cough.
In countries that are free from the infection and do not desire it, quarantine, the slaughtering of herds that test positive, serological screening, and movement controls are options that will help keep the community safe.
Even if it is said that water buffaloes are susceptible to CBPP, it is still not clear how the transmission from buffaloes to cattle is possible. The incidence of CBPP has been reported to be increasing in so many countries.
When an animal that has CBPP is introduced to a herd that has not been previously infected, it leads to a high and serious death case. Few of the cattle die rapidly after showing signs of only fever.
However, there is a possibility that clinical signs only begin to show after several days to months of the infection, this means that an animal can be infected and not show any clinical signs on time.
Using clinical signs for diagnosis can only be feasible when the infection is in its acute phase, but the clinical signs displayed are not only specific to the CBPP infection, so an appropriate test would have to be carried out by a certified veterinarian to determine the presence of the infection.
The best method of preventing CBPP over time has remained the use of attenuated T1/44 live strain vaccination. The vaccination is believed to provide immunity for up to one year.
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