200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

[Amish Country]

By Cara Spoto ? For the Wausau Daily Herald ? January 15, 2011
200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

"The owner of the cattle reportedly told deputies that he had been working with a local veterinarian and suspected that the animals died from either infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, or IBR, or bovine virus diarrhea, or BVD, the Sheriff's Department said."

snip...
"Samples of the dead animals have been sent to Madison for testing."

snip...
"There is no threat to humans or other animals, the Portage County Sheriff's Department said."



http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/ar...50583/200-dead-cows-found-on-farm-in-Stockton

 

[JJackson]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

Don't be fooled by the newspaper's name this is in Wisconsin USA not Western Australia.

There is no threat to humans or other animals, the Portage County Sheriff's Department said.

It is reassuring to know that the Sheriff's dept. have the biological knowledge to rule out any danger to humans or other animals when the attending vet does not know what the causative agent is. Someone really should train officials not to make declarative statements like this one when they have no idea what they are talking about. It is probably correct but they have no way of knowing that and it just destroys their credibility with anyone with even a basic understanding.

 

[Ronan Kelly]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

Farmer speaks out on 200 dead cattle
By Mike Haberle
...

Newsline 9 talked with the owner. He wanted to make clear the cattle died from pneumonia. He says right now they're going to find the source of the problem and cure that. The vet told him he believes several factors may be involved, including the weather and the feed.

...

http://www.waow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13857891

 

[Tonka]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

Source:
http://www.examiner.com/pop-culture...se-of-death-released-solving-dead-cow-mystery For more information


200 dead cows in Wisconsin: Cause of death released solving dead cow mystery!
January 19th, 2011 12:55 pm ET

The 200 dead cows in Wisconsin have been taken off the property with semi-loads to a undisclosed place to be disposed of. The dead cows, which appeared to be a mystery, may just be what it is. Dead cows dying of a disease.
According to Channel 7 News in Wisconsin, the 200 dead cows died from acute interstitial pneumonia. This is the results of the preliminary tests on the dead cows. Samples taken from the dead cows were sent to Madison for more testing....

 

[Tonka]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

The farmers words-

Source:
http://www.superiortelegram.com/event/article/id/49725/group/homepage/

Published January 19 2011

Pneumonia may have killed central Wisconsin cattle herd

A mass die-off of cattle has brought devastating losses to a Portage County farmer, and made him the target of unwanted media attention.
By: Glen Moberg, Wisconsin Public Radio, Superior Telegram

(AMHERST) A mass die-off of cattle has brought devastating losses to a Portage County farmer, and made him the target of unwanted media attention.

Two hundred of Jerry Krupka's cattle died over a five day period last week, apparently from pneumonia, leaving the Amherst area farmer with about $300,000 in losses.

?This was very devastating because these cattle would come down with this pneumonia and would die and there wasn't anything you could do,? he said.....more

 

[alert]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton - toxic sweet potatoes

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton - toxic sweet potatoes

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/article_b8484908-2b00-11e0-8777-001cc4c03286.html

It wasn't pneumonia that killed 200 cows in Portage County earlier this month.

It was toxic sweet potatoes.

The steers who died Jan. 14 at a feedlot were initiallly thought to have died from pneumonia, but the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in Madison did more testing and discovered the cows had eaten moldy sweet potato waste that contained a toxin.

The UW-Madison news bureau reported that tests on feed samples revealed the presence of ipomeanol, a mycotoxin found in moldy sweet potatoes, Peter Vanderloo, associate director of the lab, said in a news release. "Based on history, clinical signs, changes in tissue and test results from our lab and a referral laboratory, it is likely that a mycotoxin from moldy sweet potato was a major factor in the disease and deaths of these steers."

Sweet potato waste was a major component of the animals' diet at the time of the Jan. 14 incident, Vanderloo said.

It is a common practice in agriculture to feed animals food that cannot be used for human consumption. In this case, the potatoes were never in the human food supply chain, Vanderloo said, and there was no risk to human heath.

It was first suspected that a virus or other pathogen might have been responsible, Vanderloo says, because the animals exhibited symptoms consistent with pneumonia.

"Laboratory tests found no evidence of any of the major viral pathogens that could cause a respiratory disease such as pneumonia," Vanderloo said. "None of the major respiratory pathogens of cattle were identified in the samples provided to the lab."

The deaths of the Wisconsin cattle, reported shortly after other mass die-offs of birds and fish, was reported widely and fueled wild speculation as to the cause, linking the deaths to everything from the end of the Mayan calendar to the second coming and the apocalypse.

 

[alert]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,86906

Archive Number 20110131.0370
Published Date 31-JAN-2011
Subject PRO/AH> Ipomeanol poisoning, fatal, bovine - USA: (WI) sweet potato


IPOMEANOL POISONING, FATAL, BOVINE - USA: (WISCONSIN) SWEET POTATO
******************************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: Sat 29 Jan 2011
Source: CrabbyGolightly [edited]
<http://crabbygolightly.com/mt/2011/01/bad_spuds_not_the_apocalypse_c.html>


Fatalists can put away their rosary beads as Wisconsin officials say "bad
spuds" and not the impending Apocalypse killed 200 cows on a Wisconsin farm
last week [week of 14 Jan 2011]. "The cows were poisoned by a toxin found
in moldy sweet potatoes, which apparently were mixed in with potato waste
fed to the animals," said Peter Vanderloo, associate director of the
Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.

The 200 Holstein steers keeled over on or before 14 Jan 2011 on a farm near
Portage County just weeks after thousands of birds and fish died in
Arkansas. But in Wisconsin, something less sinister was at work in the
deaths of 200 cattle. Tests on feed samples revealed the presence of
ipomeanol, a mycotoxin found in moldy sweet potatoes, says Dr Vanderloo.

"Based on history, clinical signs, changes in tissue, and test results from
our lab and a referral laboratory, it is likely that a mycotoxin from moldy
sweet potato was a major factor in the disease and deaths of these steers,"
Vanderloo said in the release.

[byline: Elizabeth C]

--
communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>

[Moldy sweet potatoes have been known for a long time to produce a toxin
that harms the lungs and can cause death. The sweet potato (_Ipomoea
batatas_) is susceptible to the fungus _Fusarium solani_ (_F. javanicum_).
This fungus in the sweet potato produces a furanoterpene, which affects the
pulmonary epithelium causing the characteristic lesions of atypical
interstitial pneumonia when consumed by cattle. The toxin produced is from
the furanosesquiterpenoid phytoalexins. Feeding sweet potatoes is a common
practice. It is only when they get mold that there is a problem. - Mod.TG

 

[alert]

Re: 200 dead cows found on farm in Stockton

http://www.promedmail.org/pls/apex/..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,86943

Archive Number 20110204.0400
Published Date 04-FEB-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Undiagnosed die-off, bovine - USA (02): (WI)

UNDIAGNOSED DIE-OFF, BOVINE - USA (02): (WISCONSIN)
***********************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Date: 31 Jan 2010
From: Peter Vanderloo <Peter.Vanderloo@wvdl.wisc.edu>


[Although ProMED-mail has posted the diagnosis of this bovine
die-off, this particular post is from the diagnostic laboratory
having done the work and is a useful confirmation of the diagnosis. - Mod.TG]

Subject: cause of death, steers in a Wisconsin feedlot from mycotoxin
in moldy sweet potato

This post is a response to a request for information regarding the
cause of death of approximately 200 steers in a Portage County,
Wisconsin feedlot.

In mid-January 2011, approximately 200 steers died in a Portage
County feedlot. Specimens from 2 animals were submitted to the
Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (WVDL) for testing.

Results from testing at a referral laboratory identified the presence
of ipomeanol in the feed. This compound is a mycotoxin present in
moldy sweet potato. Sweet potato waste, not intended for human
consumption, was a significant component of the diet of the steers at
the time of the disease event.

The major viral bovine pathogens of cattle (BHV1, BVDV, BRSV, Corona
virus) were not identified by PCR in the samples provided to the
WVDL. (When the deaths of the steers were 1st reported, there was
speculation that IBR/BVD was the cause of death.)

Based on history, clinical signs, macroscopic and microscopic changes
in tissue, and test results from the WVDL and the referral
laboratory, it is very likely that mycotoxin from moldy sweet potato
was a major factor in the disease and death loss observed in the these steers.

--
Peter Vanderloo DVM
Associate Director, WVDL
<Peter.Vanderloo@wvdl.wisc.edu>

[ProMED-mail would like to thank Dr. Vanderloo for providing details
on the investigations and diagnostic studies performed on this event.
A thorough comment regarding the mycotoxin and the toxic agent
ipomeanol was posted in ProMED-mail Ipomeanol poisoning, fatal,
bovine - USA: (WI) sweet potato 20110131.0370. - Mods.TG/MPP]