Territory Stories

Barkly beef

Details:

Title

Barkly beef

Creator

Northern Territory. Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries

Collection

Barkly Beef; E-Journals; PublicationNT; Barkly Beef

Date

2014-12-01

Notes

Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).; This publication contains many links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.

Language

English

Subject

Agriculture; Tennant Creek Region; Periodicals

Publisher name

Northern Territory Government

Place of publication

Tennant Creek

Series

Barkly Beef

Volume

Newsletter, Decenber 2014

File type

application/pdf

ISSN

1325-9539

Use

Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)

Copyright owner

Northern Territory Government

License

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

Parent handle

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/253924

Citation address

https://hdl.handle.net/10070/534650

Page content

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRY AND FISHERIES BARKLY BEEF | page 8 www.dpif.nt.gov.au During an outbreak of the disease such activities as mustering have to be disrupted as the added stress will cause increased mortalities. As natural infection provides a lifelong immunity, younger stock are the most likely group to be affected. However, if there has been a lengthy period of dry conditions, then the incidence of the disease after the next big wet will increase significantly and a much higher percentage of older animals will be affected. Clinical signs are much more pronounced in heavier cattle. Abortions may occur if the heifers/cows are infected during the second and third trimesters of their pregnancies. Clinical Signs. o Fever, depression, lameness with muscular stiffness and twitching. o Downer animals o Abortion, saliva drooling from the mouth Note: heavier and older animals are more severely affected. Prevention and Control Measures o Vaccinationthis is a 2 shot vaccination, the initial dose followed by a booster in 4 weeks o Provide shade, water and food to downers if this is at all possible, as the effected animals already have a fever and any lengthy period exposed to the elements will result in many animals perishing. o Prop the animal upright so that it rests on its breast bone as this will help to prevent fluid retention in the lungs from occurring. It is recommended that at least bulls are vaccinated to prevent temporary infertility. Census figures for 2004 indicated that 8% of producers did this in the Barkly region; however vaccination of commercial breeders appears not to be warranted. Effective vaccination requires two shots given a month apart. o Following natural infection, cattle generally remain immune for at least 2 years. If you have any questions regarding any of these diseases or others, please contact John Eccles, Regional Veterinary Officer, on 08 8973 9716, or John.Eccles@nt.gov.au.