Working Your Herd This Fall?
Consider Important Cattle Health Issues!

Whether you’re sorting calves for sale, moving the herd to fresh pasture, or deciding which cows to keep, working cattle in cooler weather makes sense. It’s also a good time to address important herd health issues that can affect Texas’ ability to trade and move cattle freely.
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended funding for the cattle tuberculosis (TB) testing program until the end of 2004, so ranchers still can take advantage of a free TB test for their seed stock, or purebred cattle,” commented Dr. Bob Hillman, Texas’ state veterinarian and head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock and poultry regulatory agency. “Increased TB surveillance must be accomplished, in order for Texas’ TB-free status, downgraded two years ago, to be reinstated. TB-free status will enhance the marketability of Texas cattle, because breeding animals could move across state lines without TB testing requirements or restrictions.”
Texas, New Mexico, California and Michigan are the only states not cattle TB-free. Each of these states is following a specially tailored plan to regain TB status, explained Dr. Hillman. “Texas must not be the only state that doesn’t fulfill its disease surveillance obligation.” Dr. Hillman urged Texas producers to contact either the TAHC at 1-800-550- 8242, or their private veterinary
practitioner to arrange for a TB herd test. More than 550 Texas private veterinarians are certified to conduct TB herd tests and are reimbursed by the TAHC, through cooperative agreement funds from the USDA.
“More than 750 of the state’s 807 dairies have been tested for TB since last fall, and only one in Hamilton County has been found to be infected. This herd is being depopulated, with an indemnity paid by the USDA,” commented Dr. Hillman. “The Texas cattle industry’s plan also called for testing of 2,400 purebred, or beef breeding herds. As of early September, however, only about 300 herds have been tested, far short of the goal. Time and money are running short; please support the Texas cattle industry and get your herd tested while the costs
can be offset with federal funds.”
“Producers also may be able to arrange for a free herd test for cattle brucellosis, or ‘Bangs,’ if their cattle had potential exposure to the bacterial disease, or if the herd exhibits signs of the disease, such as abortions, weak calves of lowered milk production. Many times brucellosis infection is ‘silent,’ with few obvious signs of disease, so proactive measures are crucial to find infection,” said Dr. Hillman.
“In late August, a brucellosis-infected beef herd was detected in Leon County, the first in the state since late 2003. Was this Texas’ final infected herd? Only time and continued disease surveillance at livestock markets, tests prior to private sale, slaughter surveillance and selective herd tests will give us that answer.” States may be classified “free” of brucellosis after 12 months without an infected herd and a USDA-mandated review. Texas and Wyoming are the only states without the free status.
“When you handle your cattle, inspect them carefully for unusual ticks, or for blistering around the animal’s mouth, nose teats of hooves. Watch for cattle that stagger or fall,” urged Dr. Hillman. “Seven ranches outside the permanent fever tick zone in Kinney and Zapata Counties have been found infested with the dangerous fever tick, capable of transmitting ‘’Texas Fever,’ which can be deadly to cattle,” said Dr. Hillman. “The TAHC and USDA Tick Force are tracing, inspecting, dipping or spraying cattle that were moved from the pastures prior to the detection of the ticks. All cattle inspected to date have been free of the fever tick.”
Tick and maggot submission kits should be a ‘staple’ on every producer’s shelf, noted Dr. Hillman. The kits may be obtained from the TAHC area offices, some private veterinary practitioners or the TAHC headquarters at 1-800-550- 8242. Unusual ticks or maggots should be submitted for identification to the State-Federal Laboratory. There is no charge for this service.
This summer’s vesicular stomatitis (VS) outbreak may be nearly over in Texas. Only three premises in Kerr County and one in Dimmit County, remain under quarantine because of the blistering disease that can affect a wide variety of livestock. “If your livestock exhibits lesions, blisters or sloughing skin in or around the mouth, nose, teats or hooves, don’t pass it off as VS,” warned Dr. Hillman. “Call your private veterinary practitioner or the TAHC, so laboratory tests can be run on a blood sample and snippet of skin from the affected animal. The blisters and lesions could be due to VS, the result of ingesting a toxic plant, or what we dread most, an introduction of foot-and-mouth disease.”
Finally, Dr. Hillman urged producers to call the TAHC to report ‘downer’ cattle, so brain tissue samples may be collected and tested for BSE, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy. “Downer, or non-ambulatory cattle are no longer accepted at livestock markets or slaughter plants, as they are considered at ‘high-risk’ for the brain-wasting disease,” he pointed out. “Call us, and we can assist with tissue collection from the animal. The USDA in June launched an intensive national BSE testing program, aiming to collect and test samples from more than 200,000 head of cattle by late December 2005, to determine if BSE is present in the U.S., and if so, at what level. As of early September, all of the 48,000 samples tested so far were negative. Of those, more than 2,600 have been from Texas-origin cattle.”
“It can be frightening to look for disease,” admitted Dr. Hillman. “But if we don’t, disease can gain a foothold in Texas, and eradication will be extremely costly, and the industry’s market share and reputation could be damaged. If you see something unusual, call your veterinarian, or call the TAHC. Don’t wait till it’s too late.”