Last week, a friend of mine had salmonella abortions confirmed on his farm. Three cows out of 110 had aborted three weeks ago, the samples (foetus) turnaround was about 10 days and he has since given his cows a salmonella vaccine.
In disease-outbreak terms, this was quite mild for a salmonella problem.
It was interesting to see his bulk milk sample antibodies had risen before the abortions and probably could have been an indicator or early warning sign. Hindsight is a great thing, I know.
This probably shows the value for dairy farmers to be bulk milk sampling, but, most importantly, keeping an eye on them.
Salmonella is a bacterial disease that can affect animals and people. It has a number of strains - the common ones being S. Dublin and S. thyphimurium. It is very commonly associated with abortions, but it can have many other symptoms in outbreaks.
Salmonella can cause:
Fluke and salmonella
Liver fluke infestations can increase the risk of salmonella disease and outbreaks. Just another reason to manage fluke on your farms.
With any of the above symptoms, farmers should engage with their vets to make a diagnosis. Fluids, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories play a key role in treatments.
Any herds showing evidence of salmonella should begin vaccinating immediately and herds that are at risk should also consider it.