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 Extension Veterinary Medicine
Departments of Large Animal Clinical Sciences,
College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
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FAQs Q. What are the free-living stages of the Gulf Coast Tick?
A. The free-living stages the Gulf Coast Tick in the environment are adults, pregnant adult females laying eggs, hatching eggs and larvae (seed ticks) emerging from the eggs and nymphs (yearling ticks).
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Q. What are the best preventive measures to take in order to avoid reinfestations of the Gulf Coast Tick?
A. Preventive measures against continuous reinfestations must be directed toward the persistent optimal environment to disturb the egg laying of the adults by removing the moist, shaded areas that horses and cattle occupy for long term. Application of environmental chemicals (pyrethroid solutions) to the infested areas may provide some control by killing the adults, larvae and nymphs in environment with focus on environment instead of only on horses and cattle. The presence of deer and wild small animals can be a means of reintroducing the ticks in horse and cattle environments by these animals harboring the source of new ticks. Effective control programs for the Gulf Coast Tick on cattle and horses must include measures directed toward killing free-living and parasitic stages of the tick and controlling exposures to deer and small wild mammals.
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Q. What is a treatment for the Gulf Coast Tick on cattle and horses?
A. Animal treatment with an insecticide like a pyrethroid solution labeled for cattle and horses is effective in killing the adult ticks, but a residual chemical is inadequate for an effective kill of new invading adults from the environment. Chemical application at 2-week intervals will be effective at times of continuous exposures (most months of the year, except during extreme weather conditions of hot or cold).
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Q. Does the Gulf Coast Tick in different stages of development infest different species of animals?
A. Yes. The larvae and nymphs infest and molt on small wild mammals (rats, mice, rabbits, raccoons and opossums). The adults infest large mammals like horses, cattle and deer. The pregnant adult female ticks fall to the ground in the moist, shaded areas and lay eggs.
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Q. What environmental conditions facilitate the development of the Gulf Coast Tick?
A. The environmental stages of the Gulf Coast Tick survive in moist, shaded areas (brush and tree cover, matted grass cover, waste hay and grain cover, barns, stalls) where horses and cattle occupy for long term in pens, stalls and in pasture (feeding/mineral/salt/watering troughs; loafing areas).
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Q. “My cows’ eyes are cloudy and runny.”
A. When cattle are observed to have cloudy, runny eyes, it is expected that the inflamed and painful eyeballs and eyelids are infected with a virus or bacterium or damaged from sunlight or cancer. Close observation, available history, laboratory testing and professional assistance may be necessary to make a specific diagnosis and proper treatment.
Q. What is Pink Eye (Infectious Keratoconjunctivitis)?
A. Although sporadic cases of eye diseases occur in all seasons of the year, this highly contagious, bacterial disease is most common during the summer months. Sudden onset begins with excessive flow of tears, holding the eye partially closed, rubbing the eye and seeking shaded areas. An ulcer develops within a short time in the central area of the cornea. An opaque ring develops around the ulcer, and within 48 hours of onset the entire cornea becomes cloudy. The infection may affect one or both eyes. The lining of the eyelids becomes red with mucus and pus. As the ulcer deepens and extends completely through the cornea, the eye ruptures with loss of fluid and collapse of the eyeball. Immediate treatment and isolation of infected cattle are essential to recovery and in prevention of spread to other cattle.
Q. What is IBR Virus Eye (Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis) ?
A. Upper respiratory infections are caused by the aerosol transmission of this virus that spreads rapidly through the herd and is most prevalent in the fall and winter. In the early acute stage, few cattle may develop cloudy cornea similar to pink eye. The opacity spreads inward from the outer edge of the cornea, and there is no ulceration. Control measures include isolation of affected animals and vaccination of the whole herd and purchased replacements.
Q. We have been having an increased number of stillbirths in our miniature donkeys. What do we need to do?
A. The first thing that needs to be done is your veterinarian needs to be contacted and they need to submit fetus and placenta tissue samples of the aborted and stillborn fetuses. Blood samples from the mares needs to also be collected in order to make a specific diagnosis.
Q. What is Cancer Eye (Squamous Cell Carcinoma) ?
A. The frequency of cancer, like smooth plaques on the eyeball and ulcer or horn lesions on the eyelids, is increased in cattle without pigment in the eye and with constant exposure to bright sunlight. Excessive flow of tears occurs as in cases of pink eye. Cancerous growths develop on the third, upper and lower eyelids and eyeball and spread to internal lymph nodes and organs. Recognizing the gross appearance of the lesions associated with the eye makes diagnosis of this cancer. Early detection is necessary for heating or freezing therapies or surgical removal of the tumor alone. In chronic cases with more extensive involvement, the entire eyeball and eyelids must be removed.
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Q.What is Photo Eye (Photosensitization) ?
A. This noninfectious condition is a hypersensitivity to sunlight after ingestion of various plants or administration of certain drugs. In addition to cloudiness of the cornea of eyes, non-pigmented eyelids and nose, teats and vulva and areas of head, body and legs are commonly sunburned. Prolonged exposure of affected cattle to sunlight will cause blindness and severe skin damage. Sheltering during the day with grazing on pasture at night must be provided for protection from sunlight until the eyes and skin have healed.
Q."My calves have areas of hair loss with skin lesions."
A. Calves commonly become infected with ringworm fungus and wart virus. The two infectious, contagious conditions are easily recognized and differentiated by the gross appearance of the localized hair loss with skin lesions. In cases where the hair loss with skin lesions is generalized, other causes for consideration are photosensitization, dietary deficiencies, worm infections and horn fly and lice infestations.
Q. What is Ringworm Fungus (Dermatophytosis)?
A. The early stage of a fungus infection in the skin quite often goes unnoticed because of poorly visible small areas, slightly raised with roughened hair. Infected cows serve as common sources of the fungus that is transferred by direct contact to calves. After several weeks of the fungus infiltrating hair follicles, the hair falls out leaving circumscribed grayish lesions. The scaly lesions, which coalesce to form large patches of hair loss at least 3 inches in diameter, are frequently located on the face and neck and more common in young cattle. Although the infection tends to be self-limiting with spontaneous recovery after several months, affected calves should be separated and treated to prevent transmission to other calves.
Q. What are Warts (Papillomatosis)?
A. Warts are fibrous tumors of the skin and mucous membranes and caused by many strains of the papilloma virus. The virus is usually transmitted to calves by direct contact from infected cows. Other means of transmission are by contaminated instruments that puncture the skin and biting flies, such as horn flies and stable flies. The cauliflower-type growths occur primarily on the head, neck and shoulders, in the mouth and vagina and on the teats, vulva and penis. To prevent transmission to other calves, the calves with warts should be isolated. Over a period of 3 to 12 months, the affected calves build immunity against the virus in the warts and skin. Once the immunity kills the viruses, the warts dry and sluff.
Q.“Every winter my cows rub their heads, necks and shoulders.”
A. Even though lice are known in the winter to cause cattle to itch and rub on objects such as fences, posts, trees and barns, another common cause of itching and rubbing is due to an aftermath of the allergic dermatitis produced during the previous summer and fall by a horn fly infestation.
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Q. Horn Fly Allergy (Allergic Dermatitis)
A. During the horn fly season, cattle quite often develop a skin allergy to the saliva of the biting horn flies. After several weeks, large quantities of hair follicles are destroyed by the inflammatory reaction in the skin. Before the damaged hair comes out during the winter, the retained hair causes an itch sensation; the cattle rub from December through March their faces, necks and shoulders. As a result of rubbing these areas, the hair coat becomes sparse and irritated skin lesions are evident. Once the dead hair is removed by rain and rubbing, a normal hair coat returns. In the absence of crawling lice on the skin or lice eggs glued to the hairs, diagnosis is based on a history that the cows had the previous year a horn fly infestation. To prevent recurrence of this cold season problem, implementing measures to reduce the horn fly population are necessary in the warm seasons.
Q.“I have occasionally a cow or a bull crippled on one foot.”
A. Careful physical examination of a crippled cow or bull with a lame foot includes picking up the foot with a rope and washing and examining carefully between the toes for a foot crack, a corn, swelling, heat and a discharge. Professional assistance is necessary to differentiate other abnormal conditions of the foot. Unobservable problems inside the foot are bruises, abscesses, fractures and foot founder or laminitis. Of course, the lameness may be related to long toes as well as joint inflammation of the leg, including the hip on the rear and shoulder on the front.
Q. Foot Crack (Web Tear)
A. In the absence of a corn or foot rot, a draining infection with a foul odor, but yet swelling and heat of the foot are observed; the web of skin between the toes is likely deeply cracked into sensitive tissue. Walking on rough terrain or the weight placed on the foot when bulls mount for breeding commonly spreads the toes widely apart and causes the skin to tear. Also long toes predispose to the likelihood of excessive spreading of toes. The damaged tissue must heal inside out. To prevent further tearing, the cow or bull must be confined for a few weeks to limit walking and the toes trimmed and taped together.
Q. Foot Rot (Necrotic Pododermatitis)
A. In the absence of a foot crack, in which the web of skin between the toes is not deeply cracked, but yet a draining infection with a foul odor is observed, a soil-borne bacterial disease of the foot is likely. In addition to a hot, swollen and painful foot with a dead odor, fever and loss of appetite and body weight are normally observed. During warm, wet weather, the bacteria in mud mixed with manure commonly gain entry through minute cracks and abrasions of the skin between the toes and heel bulb, causing swelling and dead tissue. The infection may spread to the skin of the pastern and fetlock and to bone joints inside the foot. Since the pus discharge contains bacteria and serves as a source of new infections, the cow or bull should be segregated from the rest of the herd for proper treatment. To prevent occurrence of more cases, corrections of the unsanitary conditions are essential.
Q.Corn( Interdigital Hyperplasia)
A.A painful and hard tumor-like, vertical mass is observed in the web of skin between the toes. Stretched skin fold in splay-toed, heavy breeds is considered to cause development of the scar tissue. Treatment includes surgical removal and toes bandaged closely together.
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