A mysterious illness is causing calves to bleed to death on German farms

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,615962,00.html

'Holy Mary, Help Us in Our Hour of Need!'
By Philip Bethge

A mysterious illness is causing calves to bleed to death on German farms. Veterinarians are stumped over what is causing the deaths: vaccines, genetically modified feed or perhaps even the first mother's milk?

What can a cattle farmer do when he sees blood running from his calves like water, when they become lethargic and febrile and, by the next morning, are lying dead on the floor, their coats covered in blood?

"Our calves from last summer looked like they had been beaten," says farmer Robert Meyboom, who is still shocked and perplexed today. "The animals' bodies were covered with drops of blood, and their eyes were bloodshot."

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,1475173,00.jpg
PHOTO GALLERY: BLOODY COW DISEASE
Click on a picture to launch the image gallery (4 Photos)



The veterinarian tried everything, he says, including administering vitamins and blood-clotting agents. But nothing worked, and "within two or three days, they were all dead."

Meyboom, a farmer from Wesel in the Lower Rhine region of western Germany, has lost seven animals since the first calf bled to death in his barn in October 2007. The last calf died an agonizing death only a few weeks ago. Farmers refer to the victims as "blood sweaters," alluding to the way blood seems to seep from the pores in some of the calves.

[marketcrazy1]

1. I dont like the sound of this

WTF!

[Teaser]

2. chupacabra?

.

[ensho]

3. cripe - this mystery needs solving

nt

[ClarkUSA]

4. There's a common causal agent that exists only in Germany. Mass autopsies would be a start.

It's costly but necessary to find the common link that connects the dead calves. Strange how it isn't affecting the adults.

[BrklynLiberal]

5. My vote is for the genetically modified feed that the mothers got while pregnant.

Perhaps even an interaction between that feed and some vaccine.
Whatever it is, I am sure it is manmade. Or should I say corporate-made?

I wonder which huge international conglomerate manufactures this vaccine?

Many farmers blame the "blood sweating" on a controversial vaccine against bluetongue disease, which became mandatory for cattle in Germany in April of last year.

Since then, farmers who refuse to vaccinate their animals are threatened with fines. One of them is Gertraud Schützeneder, who operates an organic farm with her husband Konrad in the Bavarian town of Simbach am Inn. "We do not want to subject our animals to the vaccination," says the determined farmer. Schützeneder is convinced that the mysterious blood-sweating condition is "somehow indirectly related to the vaccination."

[Teaser]

10. why?

do you have some data on this?

[daninthemoon]

6. cow ebola? not good.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. hmmm Makes one wonder wha was used to culture the vaccines...

[ddeclue]

17. Cowbola?

:shrug:

:(

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. That's what ran through my mind

I wonder if they ran a full spectrum bio analysis

[willing dwarf]

7. My brother had a virus in his blood stream like this as a kid

He lost all the platelets in his blood and almost died in about 12 hours. It was scarey.

Years later my aunt got something similar. She was told that hers was an acute reaction to medication.

Knowing the garbage they pump into these poor animals, I wouldn't be surprised if its a reaction to pharmaceuticals.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. TWO YEARS!!!?? and we are just hearing about it now???

Veterinarians have been studying the unexplained deaths for the past two years,

But other observations are striking. For example, there have been strange clusters of "up to more than 40" sick calves at individual farms, says Klee. Besides, all animals Klee has examined came from farms that vaccinate against Bovine Virus Diarrhea (BVD). The ailment can cause symptoms similar to those of the mysterious blood sweating, but calves are not even immunized against BVD.

I would bet their Mothers are vaccinated.....

[kestrel91316]

11. Exposure to anticoagulants? Some hemorrhagic virus?

Very strange. They better get a handle on it if they want Europe to keep being able to export beef products.

[BrklynLiberal]

12. Bovine Virus Diarrhea / Blue Tongue Disease

But other observations are striking. For example, there have been strange clusters of "up to more than 40" sick calves at individual farms, says Klee. Besides, all animals Klee has examined came from farms that vaccinate against Bovine Virus Diarrhea (BVD). The ailment can cause symptoms similar to those of the mysterious blood sweating, but calves are not even immunized against BVD.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_virus_diarrhea

http://repositories.cdlib.org/anrrec/sfrec/2004_bovine_virus_diarrhea/

http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/2002/spring/bluetongue.shtml
Differentials for BTV in cattle include Bovine Viral Diarrhea virus,

[kestrel91316]

13. If it's BVD I'll eat my socks.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. What is it about BVD that makes it so unlikely?

[kestrel91316]

15. BVD is primarily a diarrheal disease. I don't recall it being able to cause

bleeding from bodily orifices like the eyes. I would assume, also, that German vets have been looking for the common stuff and not finding it.

USDA APHIS has a good pdf on it:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah/cei/bi/bvdinfosheet.pdf

[BrklynLiberal]

16. This quote is from the original article.

But other observations are striking. For example, there have been strange clusters of "up to more than 40" sick calves at individual farms, says Klee. Besides, all animals Klee has examined came from farms that vaccinate against Bovine Virus Diarrhea (BVD). The ailment can cause symptoms similar to those of the mysterious blood sweating, but calves are not even immunized against BVD.


But their mothers are......

[mzmolly]

19. Man,

that's some scary stuff.

[RhodaGrits]

18. Hemorrhagic syndrome-like disease in calves

with bovine viral diarrhea and mucosal disease complex
J Vet Intern Med. 2007 May-Jun;21(3):514-8.
Murat Dabak1, Tolga Karapinar, Irem Gulacti, Hakan Bulut, Omer Kizil, Suleyman Aydin
1 Department of Internal Medicine, Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey. [e-mail]

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) infection is one of the causes of hemorrhagic diathesis in cattle but there have been limited field studies about that condition. HYPOTHESIS: To identify the cause of hemorrhagic diathesis in calves and describe its clinical findings. ANIMALS: Five calves from a farm with 150 dairy cows. METHODS: Clinical examination of the calves was performed. After blood samples were obtained from 2 calves, whole blood, sera, and leukocyte samples were used for hematologic and hemostatic examinations, neutralization tests, virus isolation, and viral genome sequencing. RESULTS: The calves had moderate pyrexia, dullness, serous or mucous nasal discharge, and petechial and ecchymotic hemorrhages on mucosal surfaces. Severe thrombocytopenia and anemia were identified on hematologic examinations. All calves died within 10 days of the onset of clinical signs. Virologic examinations identified BVDV as the causative agent of the disease. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: This paper identifies a hemorrhagic syndrome-like disease in calves with bovine viral diarrhea and mucosal disease complex in Turkey.

[BrklynLiberal]

20. So...it seems this symptomology is NOT found only in Germany....