Clostridial Diseases in Cattle
Several important clostridial diseases affect cattle. These include blackleg, redwater, malignant edema and several types of Clostridium perfringens. Most stockmen vaccinate against these, using a seven- or eight-way vaccine.
"This is probably the most widely used vaccine. If people do not vaccinate against these diseases, eventually they will lose cattle," says John Campbell, head of the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatchewan.
"Blackleg is the most prevalent; the bacterial spores are everywhere. There are certain geographic locations where redwater is also very common," he says. In regions with liver flukes, stockmen may have to vaccinate twice a year. Flukes damage the liver and allow infection to gain entrance.
"Blackleg and malignant edema are similar, and we see these quite often unless cattle are vaccinated. We see C. novyi (Black disease) occasionally in unvaccinated animals. Tetanus is also a clostridial disease. There is one eight-way vaccine that includes tetanus," he says.
"We've seen outbreaks of tetanus when people band bull calves at weaning or when they are coming into a feedlot. We don't see this so much in baby calves. For big calves, many people use banders. All clostridial organisms thrive in an anaerobic environment (without oxygen). The clamp against the testicles provides a perfect place for the bacteria to grow," he says.
"All clostridial diseases are caused by hardy spore-forming bacteria that live in the environment — in soil and feces — so cattle are always exposed. Clostridial diseases tend to occur most often in young cattle," says Campbell. Older animals may have been exposed earlier in life (with low levels of bacteria) and developed resistance.
"The vaccines are very effective and have dramatically cut down the incidence of these diseases. I still see some cases on farms where people have tried to save money and didn't vaccinate. The disaster that can happen — especially with blackleg — can be tremendous. One farmer lost half his calf crop to blackleg, dying at pasture," says Campbell.
With clostridial diseases it's usually a swift course of illness and sudden death.
"Sometimes it goes undiagnosed because the animals die so fast," he explains. "Many cases that die from blackleg have infection around the lining of the heart as well as muscle lesions."
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