Mystery Illness is Now Affecting Dairy Cows as Industry Searches for Answers

Dairy farmers in the Texas Panhandle and New Mexico are grappling with quite a mystery illness. Something is causing milk production to nosedive, and veterinarians and state officials can’t pinpoint what it is. In affected cowherds, the issue impacts nearly 10% of the animals, causing reduced feed consumption and a 10% to 20% decline in milk production. 

A Texas dairy farmer said the mystery illness acts similar to the flu and impacts only older cows. Currently, the majority of cases are being reported in Texas and New Mexico. However, the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP), the nation's largest cattle veterinary association, told Farm Journal they have some veterinarian members in Kansas who have also reported symptoms, but those reports are unconfirmed. 

“It appears that the disease peaks in about three to four days and lasts 10 to 14 days. Older dairy cattle appear to be more clinically affected, with a more severely affected lactation,” says Dr. Fred Gingrich, cattle veterinarian and executive director of AABP. “And although it's not consistent with every herd, it appears that it's mostly affecting animals that are in mid to late lactation. It's pretty unusual that we have something going on in older animals, and it's not in fresh cows."

Gingrich says AABP understands the need for urgency in finding answers for dairy producers. 

“We understand right now that the primary impact of this disease is economic. These herds lose about 20% of their milk production for 14 to 21 days, which is a huge economic loss," Gingrich says. “I think we always like to look for the bright side in a situation, and we don't appear to have mortalities associated with this disease. That's not happening, which is really great.”

As the industry works to uncover the factors causing the disease, Gingrich says what makes pinpointing the cause so difficult is trying to decipher what the main symptoms of the illness are versus the secondary symptoms and related issues. “It's not a pneumonia outbreak, as far as we can see, and it's not a mastitis outbreak. I think that some of those things that we're seeing on farms are probably secondary to the initial agent that's causing cows to go off feed, and every dairy farmer knows that a cow that doesn't eat is at risk to get other syndromes and other diseases. I think that's what's occurring right now.”

Gingrich says diagnostic labs have already done several tests, along with more pending samples. “Right now, the test results are what we would call inconclusive,” he says. “There's nothing conclusive as an exact diagnosis as to whether this is caused by a pathogen of a bacteria or a virus."

Texas officials say they are working with USDA to further monitor and evaluate reported cases.

 “We're trying to rule out infectious diseases in anything that might be related to feed or water or any kind of supplementation that these animals are receiving,” Dr. Lewis R. “Bud” Dinges, Texas Animal Health Commission executive director and Texas state veterinarian, told Farm Journal. “We’re trying to gather some management data as far as what herds are affected, what's common to all the herds that are affected, and trying to do a good epidemiologic investigation here. It doesn't appear to be an infectious disease, and we haven't seen anything to prove that we need to stop movement on these cattle as of right now.”

EDITOR’S TAKE:

It is easy to see that this illness is of great concern to dairy producers and the animal health community. Identification of the root cause is critical in determining a pathway of action moving forward. Uncertainty and speculation are clearly not what anyone desires. Unchecked, this disease/illness is wreaking havoc on the animals and the farmer’s income. Fast response and quick identification can hopefully eliminate the potential for widespread illness in other states. We are certainly hoping for a quick resolution.