Salmonellosis in Cattle

Salmonella is a bacteria, with thousands of serotypes. The enteric form of Salmonella is what you see when a calf or cow has awful smelling, watery, brown, sometimes blood tinge stool. This condition is called Salmonellosis. The majority of Salmonella that infect cattle are in groups B, C, D or E. The type that most commonly infects cattle in the Northeast is Salmonella Typhimurium. The one type you really do not want to have on your property is Salmonella Typhimurium DT104, as it is found to be extremely contagious and causes severe illness in cattle and humans.

• Calves are typically targeted if they are colostrum deprived at birth. They spike a fever, diarrhea, quick dehydration resulting in rapid breathing and then death, in 24-48 hours
• In mature cows, they also spike a fever, stop eating, terrible smelling diarrhea, fatigue, milk production drop etc.

The transmission is ONLY by Fecal-oral so that is what the focus should be on prevention and correcting an infection, along with veterinary care for the exposed and clinically symptomatic. Where did the cattle get infected? Possible sources of the infection are asymptomatic carriers in (dogs, birds, people, cattle etc,) and contaminated feed, hay, water, and other places in the environment. Most of the time, the bacteria is spread through contamination with manure, but once the host is severely infected it can also be transmitted through saliva, milk, urine and nasal discharge.

The actual clinical signs are typically 7-10 days with a full 2-3 week healing period. Some cattle never fully recover, some continue to shed the bacteria for 3-6 months, while some will go on to be lifeline carriers.

Common treatment is just supportive IV fluid therapy. Some Vets will try antibiotics, but research has shown that to be less effective, once the animal has transitioned to having diarreha.

Preventing Salmonellosis is much better than treating it during an outbreak. There is no vaccination because the bacteria can live and multiply inside the cells of the host's immune system. This makes any vaccination program difficult to create. Salmonella carriers will shed more of the virus when they are stressed. This is just one small example of why you should quarantine any new cattle on your farm.

1. Never use the same tractor front loader to clean out manure pens that you use to move cattle feed around.
2. Make sure water troughs are clean and free of manure. You can clean them out with a diluted bleach solution to really clean the tanks.
3. Keep hay off the ground, so the cows are not munching on potentially soiled hay.
4. Keep pens cleaned off so UV light can kill off bacteria.
5. Do not overcrowd feeding areas.
6. Find ways to reduce mud in feed areas and fill in low areas that hold water.
7. If you have to give oral medication, make sure the equipment is clean between animals. Wear gloves, clean rectal thermometers between cow, etc.

Ranchers can absolutely get Salmonella from their livestock. You should always take precautions when handling your cattle, especially when they are clinically ill, but in this case they can be silent carriers as well. Wash your hands often, wear gloves when needed, and call the vet if you think it may be salmonellosis.