Bovine Pinkeye
Infectious Bovine Keratonconjunctivitis
Veterinary Science
What is Bovine Pinkeye?
Bovine pinkeye is a contagious disease caused by the bacteria Moraxella bovis also known as infectious bovine keratonconjunctivitis (IBK).
Cattle are the only known carrier for this bacteria and it can be found in both normal and diseased eyes. Moraxella bovis is a unique bacteria in that:
• Has feet that help bacteria stick to eye rather than be washed away by tears
• Produces a chemical that eats away at the cornea causing an ulcer
• Harmful/attacks to white blood cells
Factors and Irritants
Other factors and irritants responsible for developing pinkeye include:
• Tall weeds and grass in grazing areas
• Feed dust from overhead bunks
• Hay dust from large round bales
• Environmental dust – dry/windy
• Pollen
• Exposure to excessive UV (ultraviolet) sunlight
• Over crowding, close confinement, inadequate bunk space
• Shipping stress
Who’s at Risk
Most affected and those at higher risk:
• Young animals most affected, however, any age can get it
• English breeds (i.e. Hereford, Hereford crosses, Charolais and some Holsteins) lack pigment in skin that surrounds eye and eyelids; are more susceptible because of increased sensitivity to sunlight and decreased immune response in eye
• Calves more likely to develop the disease than adult cattle as adult appear to have developed protective antibodies on the surface of the eye
• Calves born to heifers have more problems than calves born of adult cows.
• Bull calves have a higher incidence of disease then heifer calves (for unknown reason)
• Incidence increases in sprin...
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...atonconjunctivitis: Introduction (Pinkeye, Infectious ophthalmia), www.merckvetmanual.com
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George L. 1990. Managing bovine pinkeye in beef calves. Cal Ag 44(2):11-12. DOI: 10.3733/ca.v044n02p11
University of Tennessee Extension, Animal Science, Info Series: AS - 307Pinkeye in Beef Cattle; Hopkins, Fred M, Department of Animal Science and College of Veterinary Medicine; Gill, W. Warren, Department of Animal Science University of Tennessee
Makousky, David Tangley, Laura Loeb, Penny Holstein, William J. Thorton, Jeannye, "Hay feed might stop infections from meat." U.S. News & World Report 125.11(1998): middlesearchplus. EBSCO.web.27.Oct.2011
Mad Cow Disease, scientifically referred to as (BSE) Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, is a disease that affects those humans who eat the meat from infected cows. Mad Cow Disease is one of several fatal brain diseases called (TSE) Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy. (USDA) There was evidence of a new illness resembling the sheep disease scrapie. It was technically named BSE but quickly acquired the mad cow tag because of the way infected cattle behave. (CNN) In 1997, there was an award given to Stanley Prusiner, for concluding that a distorted protein called a prion was responsible for Mad Cow Disease, noted the long incubation period made it difficult to distinguish (Bryant). Another name for Mad Cow Disease is the new variant Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), similar to the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, which is a deadly brain illness that strikes about one per million per year (USDA) due to genetic or unknown causes while the vCJD is contracted from eating infected cows (USDA). Both CJD and vCJD are so similarly named because of the similar effects from the illness.
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...eats contact. Finally, families who eat spinal or nervous tissue of cows can greatly reduce their risks of developing mad cow disease by not purchasing such items. The beef industry is willingly under surveillance, making all attempts to produce safe and healthy products. American residents should be assured that all necessary precautions have been taken to keep Mad Cow Disease out of the United States and consumer-friendly beef on market shelves. An excerpt from the FDA Consumer Magazine leaves the nation with this very “important message from both the Harvard and GAO studies. . . We must continue to work hard to make a good system even better. The FDA and the states will continue their aggressive inspection program and will continue to work closely with all components of the cattle and feed communities to help make a, thankfully, low public risk even lower.”
B. microplus is primarily a parasite of cattle. However, heavy infestations can also occur on horses, sheep, deer and water
Every beef cattle produced is injected with steroids. With the injection of steroids it makes the cow grow at an alarming rate, and helps turn food into muscle at a quicker rate. But this is the obvious information. What are they putting into both dairy cattle and beef cattle that could cause harm to us? There is a harmful hormone called IGF. Now, this hormone is not directly put into the cattle. But, all cattle are given rBGH (to put simply it helps them produce more milk/meat). But, rBGH is directly linked to IGF, a hormone that mimics the effects of the growth of human hormones in dangerous ways. It is said that cattle containing rBGH produce 10 times to IGF than cattle without rBGH. “In a 2004 study, patients with above-average IGF levels had nearly a 50% higher risk of prostate cancer and a 65% higher risk of hormone-dependent premenopausal breast cancer than people with below-average levels.” says Carina Storrs of Health.com. Also, a lot of cattle are dosed with high amounts of antibiotics, like penicillin. It is said that a lot of the antibiotics that humans use become ineffective from being exposed to antibiotic resistant bacteria from eating beef! These are just a few of MANY drugs put into cattle. Do you see how consuming high amounts of beef could be harmful to
Straus, Nathan. Disease in Milk. 2nd ed. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1917. Print.
When we got the eye it was big, fatty and gross. The fat and muscle around the eye was very soft and mushy but difficult to cut. The inside of the cows eye there was a black liquid.
The true hosts of M. bovis are cattle but disease has been reported also in many other domesticated and non-domesticated animals (buffaloes, sheep, goats, camels, pigs, equines a...
Several different microorganisms cause Bacterial Conjunctivitis, the most common being Haemophilus aegyptius, the Koch-week bacillus. This type of bacterium is gram-negative and rod shaped. Haemophilus means “blood loving”and therefore grow in chocolate agar which contains disrupted blood cells. Other bacterium which may cause Bacterial Conjunctivitis include Streptococcus and Staphlyococcus. The incidence of Bacterial Conjunctivitis caused by gram positive bacterium are more predominate.
The purpose of this paper is to focus on a subject within my educational field that I can research and inform the public about. I plan to become a veterinarian .which would require my daily contact with humans and animals. Zoonotic diseases are risk factors that I have to be aware of in order to protect myself as well as my patients and their owners. Luckily developments in medicine have made it possible to cure zoonotic diseases and even prevent them from ever being contracted.
Blowey, R. W. (1990). A Veterinary Book for Dairy Farmer (Third ed.). Old Pont Publishing Ltd.