• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Disease susceptibility.

Kathy

Well-known member
http://www.saanendoah.com/copper1.html

BVDV caused the death of a 15 week old beef calf three weeks following vaccination with modified live BVDV. The farm reported animals were healthy when vaccinated. Of the 106 vaccinated, two subsequently died and several other became ill with nasal discharge. The submitted calf was also severely copper and selenium deficient.

There are some interesting comments at this website.
The site is for goats, but references other animals as well. This page was entitled, "Basic Information On Copper Deficiency In Dairy Goats In Southern California ll."

There is alot of evidence that animals with mineral deficiencies are highly susceptible to various diseases, viruses/bacteria. FYI .


Then there is this interesting tidbit about how parasites in the bellys of sharks preferrentially accumulate toxic heavy metals. These researchers examined 16 shark from "the Persian Gulf" and found levels of heavy metals to be 278 to 455 times higher in the parasites than the sharks themselves. The question is, are these parasites protecting the sharks from the toxic effects of the heavy metals they consume? I wonder what would happen to the sharks if you treated them with organophosphates?

June 25, 2007

Parasites suck toxins from sharks
Intestinal worms collect heavy metals from the sea.
by Matt Kaplan
[email protected]

Parasitic worms inside the guts of sharks are absorbing high concentrations of toxic heavy metals, researchers have found. The worms could be useful to scientists trying to check up on the health of ocean waters. And they could be saving the sharks from metal poisoning — at least for now.

"What we are seeing with these parasites is a classic canary in a coal mine situation," says Kenneth MacKenzie, a parasitologist at the University of Aberdeen. "If the parasites start dying off as a result of metal poisoning we will know that levels have gone too high and can expect larger species to start suffering too."

Heavy metals are a common toxin in marine environments thanks to industrial waste and mining activities. Close to shore, scientists often look at clams, oysters, and other filter feeders, which accumulate the metals in their tissues, to keep tabs on how polluted an area is. But such 'bioindicators' don't exist for the open ocean, and levels of heavy metal pollution there are unknown — although they're thought to be on the rise, leaving scientists concerned about their effects on marine life.

MacKenzie and his colleagues, led by Masoumeh Malek at the University of Tehran in Iran, looked at coastal sharks to see whether parasites in their guts might be accumulating such toxins in open waters. They collected sixteen whitecheek sharks (Carcharhinus dussumieri) in the Persian Gulf, dissected them, and collected their intestinal tapeworms (Anthobothrium sp. and Paraorigmatobothrium sp.). They then tested both shark tissues and parasites for presence of cadmium and lead.

The tapeworms had 278 to 455 times higher metal oncentrations than the sharks themselves, the researchers report in Parasitology1. "This is very exciting because we have effectively found filter feeders in the open water," says MacKenzie.

Heavy metal
The result mimics those of previous studies, which found parasites in freshwater fish were accumulating heavy metals2,3.

Together, such studies leave researchers thinking that these intestinal creatures are protecting their hosts. "If the heavy-metal concentrations found in the parasites were found in the shark tissues instead, I have little doubt that the sharks' health would be poorer," says Malek, although she doesn't know whether this level of pollution would make the sharks ill.

The theory needs further checking says parasitologist Dave Johnston from the UK's Natural History Museum in London. "Identifying whether a protective effect is being generated is a complex issue," he says. The relative mass of parasite to host is much higher for freshwater fish than for sharks, he notes — a shark might need a lot of parasites to suck up enough metal to protect it.

In the meantime, researchers are also keen to use the parasites to study heavy-metal levels in deeper waters, where hydrothermal vents also dump metals into the water. "We know little about heavy-metal concentrations in the deep oceans. We don't know how much pollution gets there," says MacKenzie. "Collecting and analysing parasites from sharks in the deep sea would be very interesting."

1 Malek M., Haseli M., Mobedi I., Ganjali M. R.& MacKenzie K. Parasitology, doi:10.1017/S0031182007002508 (2007).

2 Thielen F., Zimmermann S., Baska F., Taraschewski H.& Sures B.Env. Poll., 129. 421 - 429 (2004).

3 Turcekova L., Hanzelova V.& Spakulova M. Helminthologia, 39. 23 - 28 (2002).

Article Copyright © 2007 MacMillan Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Find this article at: http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=3406
 

Bward

Well-known member
Quote:
BVDV caused the death of a 15 week old beef calf three weeks following vaccination with modified live BVDV. The farm reported animals were healthy when vaccinated. Of the 106 vaccinated, two subsequently died and several other became ill with nasal discharge. The submitted calf was also severely copper and selenium deficient.

I read somewhere that PI calves vaccinated with Modified live BVDV are immediatly overcome with BVD and susquently die. Don't know if thats true or not but haven't forgotten it. :?
 

Mike

Well-known member
Bward said:
Quote:
BVDV caused the death of a 15 week old beef calf three weeks following vaccination with modified live BVDV. The farm reported animals were healthy when vaccinated. Of the 106 vaccinated, two subsequently died and several other became ill with nasal discharge. The submitted calf was also severely copper and selenium deficient.

I read somewhere that PI calves vaccinated with Modified live BVDV are immediatly overcome with BVD and susquently die. Don't know if thats true or not but haven't forgotten it. :?

In my only PI it took him about 2 months to show severe symptoms after vaccination w/ML. He was diagnosed as mucosal on the lab floor.

Had lesions all the way through his respiratory and intestinal tracts.

Scary.
 
Top