CONTAGIOUS ABORTION

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1940, Page 2

CONTAGIOUS ABORTION

BIG ENEMY OF FARMERS EFFECT ON MILK YIELD Claimed to be a disease that runs hand in hand with modern methods of easy transport, combined with the demand for consistently high production, contagious abortion in dairy herds is undoubtedly one of the most serious troubles facing Taranaki farmers to-day. No part of the province where dairy farming is practised is completely free from losses through this scourge, and it has now reached a stage where replacement provision caused by abortion must be made in almost r /ery farm budget. It is a fact that herds on isolated farms in less populated areas are rriuch freer from the clisease than those grazing closely settled dairying districts. In the | latter case the herds are more or less "self contained," the owners breeding | their own requirements and seldom im- i porting new stock from outside districts. ■ Thus the disease has little chance of 1 gaining fresh impetus through the intro- ! cluction of infected cattle. ! - i Assessing the Loss. . In addition to the loss of the calf, it | has been estimated that each abortion j costs the dairy farmers about £10, but j this figure may be extended because of ! the possibility of the cow failing to get in calf again the following season. More- j jver, it must not be assumed that losses 1 are confined only to those cows that \ iiave suffered an abortion. Other mem- : bers of the herd may be infected yet ' calve at, or near to, full term. Such ; cows frequently hold their cleansings, | and develop "whites" or other diseased ; conditions of the reproductive passages j so that afterwards they have to be sold is empty cows. Unfortunately this does not end the tale of loss. After calving the germs tend to invade the udder and there lie dormant until the cow is pregnant once ; nore. .This latent infection is respon- | sible for a decreased milk yield, which, in the aggregate becomes a serious matter to the farmer although he may be jnaware of the extent of his loss.

Dangers to Humans. Contagious abortion is caused by a germ termed Brucella abortus (bovis), against which the indictment is unfortunately not yet completed. for this germ is sometimes the cause of swollen joints in cows and calves. Moreover, although cattle are most commonly infected, yet other females, if infected with this germ, may also abort and so it may, on occasion, be responsible for abortion in sows, ewes, goats, mares and even bitches. Again, quite a large proportion of cases of fistulous withers and poll-evil in horse sare the direct result of infection by this germ. Some farmers may recali that horses on a particular farm contracted these troubles after the dairy side of the farm was developed, whereas formerly such troubles were comparatively unknown. Within reecnt years it has been proved that a very prolonged illness in human beings, characterised by periods of fever, is yet another result of the germ called Brucella abprtus, and that it can be transmitted .to people by th® milk from infected cows. Examination of Milk. Having regard to the fact that the germs frequently invade the udder of the cow, even although she may not abort, it is rurprising that this disease among humans is not more common, but from the fact that it is not, it is obvious that only a very small proportion of the, population are susceptible. Nevertheless health authorities are paying especial attention to this aspect of the activity of this germ, and public health officials are using this evidence as a strong additional plea for the compulsory pasteurisation of all milk— graded and otherwise. Smal wonder, therefore, that contagious abortion of cattle has been dubbed "The Dairy Farmers' Enerny Number Onq."