Ironjustic
Thu, Aug-10-06, 17:15
Anthrax outbreak in cattle on Prairies hits record DAWN WALTON
CALGARY -- An anthrax outbreak has risen to record levels in
Saskatchewan and Manitoba where the number of dead animals --
most of them cattle -- has jumped dramatically in the past
month and officials are now frantically vaccinating herds to
stop the spread of the disease.
As of yesterday, 628 animals have died on 129 properties in
Saskatchewan since the beginning of July, when the bacteria
was discovered in a dead bull in Melfort, northeast of
Saskatoon, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
In Manitoba, the numbers are also rising, but not at the same
pace. By yesterday, 18 farms had been quarantined and 124
animals have died.
Sandra Stephens, a Saskatoon-based veterinarian with the
agency, said this is the largest anthrax outbreak on the
Prairies since Ottawa began keeping track in the 1950s.
In the previous six years, Saskatchewan had recorded just five
cases of the illness, while Manitoba counted 43 cases during
the same period.
Health officials say anthrax is more of an animal health issue
than a concern to people.
Anthrax can lay dormant in the soil for years -- even
decades -- but outbreaks have popped up from time to time
across the Prairies.
Epidemics can come after heavy rain, which brings spores to
the surface, and during periods of drought because the animals
are forced to graze deep into contaminated ground.
This summer has proved to be a perfect storm of "environmental
conditions," according to the agency.
Farmers across Saskatchewan and Manitoba have spent the summer
burning carcasses of infected animals --cattle, horses, bison,
sheep, goats and other animals -- in order to decrease the
infection rate. If animals come into contact with the infected
carcasses, they could pick up the infection.
Livestock anthrax is spread neither among live animals nor
through the air.
However, a Melfort-area man contracted a case of skin anthrax
in mid-July. The farmer was treated with antibiotics and made
a complete recovery from the least serious and most common
form of the illness.
Saskatchewan's Chief Medical Health Officer, Ross Findlater,
explained that while anthrax is not transmitted from person to
person, skin anthrax poses a small, theoretical risk of
infection from direct contact with the lesions on another
person before an antibiotic regime has begun.
Farmers are doing what they can to stop the spread. This
summer, more than 250,000 animals have been privately
vaccinated and the federal agency has injected another 18,000
with the vaccine.
About 1,355 animals have been vaccinated by the agency in
Manitoba and while no private figures were available for that
province, there is a similar level of urgency.
"From what I'm hearing, guys are buckling down, getting their
herds vaccinated and trying to ride through it as best they
can," Keith Robertson, executive director of the Manitoba
Cattle Producers Association, told The Canadian Press.
Who loves ya. Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore! http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk
Low-fat Vegan Diet Rivals Oral Diabetes Medications
CALGARY -- An anthrax outbreak has risen to record levels in
Saskatchewan and Manitoba where the number of dead animals --
most of them cattle -- has jumped dramatically in the past
month and officials are now frantically vaccinating herds to
stop the spread of the disease.
As of yesterday, 628 animals have died on 129 properties in
Saskatchewan since the beginning of July, when the bacteria
was discovered in a dead bull in Melfort, northeast of
Saskatoon, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
In Manitoba, the numbers are also rising, but not at the same
pace. By yesterday, 18 farms had been quarantined and 124
animals have died.
Sandra Stephens, a Saskatoon-based veterinarian with the
agency, said this is the largest anthrax outbreak on the
Prairies since Ottawa began keeping track in the 1950s.
In the previous six years, Saskatchewan had recorded just five
cases of the illness, while Manitoba counted 43 cases during
the same period.
Health officials say anthrax is more of an animal health issue
than a concern to people.
Anthrax can lay dormant in the soil for years -- even
decades -- but outbreaks have popped up from time to time
across the Prairies.
Epidemics can come after heavy rain, which brings spores to
the surface, and during periods of drought because the animals
are forced to graze deep into contaminated ground.
This summer has proved to be a perfect storm of "environmental
conditions," according to the agency.
Farmers across Saskatchewan and Manitoba have spent the summer
burning carcasses of infected animals --cattle, horses, bison,
sheep, goats and other animals -- in order to decrease the
infection rate. If animals come into contact with the infected
carcasses, they could pick up the infection.
Livestock anthrax is spread neither among live animals nor
through the air.
However, a Melfort-area man contracted a case of skin anthrax
in mid-July. The farmer was treated with antibiotics and made
a complete recovery from the least serious and most common
form of the illness.
Saskatchewan's Chief Medical Health Officer, Ross Findlater,
explained that while anthrax is not transmitted from person to
person, skin anthrax poses a small, theoretical risk of
infection from direct contact with the lesions on another
person before an antibiotic regime has begun.
Farmers are doing what they can to stop the spread. This
summer, more than 250,000 animals have been privately
vaccinated and the federal agency has injected another 18,000
with the vaccine.
About 1,355 animals have been vaccinated by the agency in
Manitoba and while no private figures were available for that
province, there is a similar level of urgency.
"From what I'm hearing, guys are buckling down, getting their
herds vaccinated and trying to ride through it as best they
can," Keith Robertson, executive director of the Manitoba
Cattle Producers Association, told The Canadian Press.
Who loves ya. Tom
Jesus Was A Vegetarian! http://jesuswasavegetarian.7h.com
Man Is A Herbivore! http://tinyurl.com/a3cc3
DEAD PEOPLE WALKING http://tinyurl.com/zk9fk
Low-fat Vegan Diet Rivals Oral Diabetes Medications