Abstract
Outbreaks of acute bovine babesiosis affecting several individuals within a herd are well known among veterinary practitioners and farmers within different parts of Sweden. Although outbreaks may not occur every year, they are feared by the farmers due to the unpredictability of the disease, its suddeness of onset, its rapid course, and the high mortality unless treated. Sporadic outbreaks of acute bovine babesiosis comprising several animals within a limited time period have been previously reported in Sweden (Linnaeus 1747, Bergman & Waxberg 1915, Heijbel 1928), in Finland (Hinderson 1928), in Norway as cited by Tambs-Lyche (1943), in the United Kingdom (Donnelly et al. 1970) and elsewhere within the area where B. divergens is distributed (Tambs-Lyche 1943, Purnell 1980). In all of these cases groups of animals had been transferred onto pastures where clinical cases of bovine babesiosis were known to occur from areas where the disease was rare or had never occurred; i.e. unexposed animals were transferred onto pastures with Babesia infected ticks. The farmers first became aware of this situation after the outbreak had occurred.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (688.0 KB).
References
- Bergman AM, Waxberg H. Om blodstallning, piroplasmos hos nötkreatur i Sverige. (About red water fever, Piroplasmosis in cattle in Sweden) Skandinavisk Veterinärtidskrift. 1915;5:23–40. [Google Scholar]
- Callow LL, Dalgliesh RJ: Immunity and immumunopathology in babesiosis. In: Immunology of Parasitic Infections, 2nd ed. (ed. Cohen S, Warren KS), Blackwell Scientific Publications 1982, 475–526.
- Christensson DA. Acta vet. scand. 1987. A modified IF-test to demonstrate IgM antibodies to Babesia divergens of cattle. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Christensson DA, Thorburn M. Acta vet. scand. 1987. Age distribution of naturally occurring acute babesiosis in cattle in Sweden. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Donnelly J, Crossman PJ, McKendrick MD. An outbreak of redwater on a farm in Sussex. Vet. Rec. 1970;37:729–730. doi: 10.1136/vr.87.23.729-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Donnelly J, Joyner LP, Crossman PJ. The incidence of Babesia divergens infection in a herd of cattle as measured by the indirect immunofluorescent antibody test. Res. Vet. Sci. 1972;73:511–514. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Heijbel H. Piroplasmosen, behandling och skyddsympning. 1928. pp. 166–178. [Google Scholar]
- Hinderson R. Ill Nord. Vet. mote. 1928. Om skyddsympning mot och behandling ay piroplasmos hos nötkreatur. (About protective inoculation of and treatment of bovine piroplasmosis) pp. 192–209. [Google Scholar]
- Linnaeus C. Västgöta Resa publ. i Uppsala 1747. 1978. [Google Scholar]
- Purnell RE. Tick-borne disease as a barrier to efficient land use. Outlook on Agriculture. 1980;10:230–234. [Google Scholar]
- Smith T, Kilborne FL. Investigations into the nature, causation and prevention of Texas or Southern Cattle Fever. 1893. [Google Scholar]
- Tambs-Lyche H. Ixodes ricinus og piroplasmosen i Norge. (Ixodes ricinus and the piroplasmosis in Norway) Norsk Veterinaertidskr. 1943;55:337–366. [Google Scholar]
- Wahlgren M, Christensson D, Bergquist R, Björkman, Pehrsson P-O, Rombo L. Babesios, en risksjukdom for immunodefekta i Sverige. (Babesiosis, a disease at risk for man with immunodeficiency diseases in Sweden) Opuscula Medica. 1984;29:26–28. [Google Scholar]