| Information sheets | | | Elsenburg infopaks | | | Animals, diseases: 6 |
Redwater
Afrikaans | Xhosa
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Redwater is one of the most serious cattle diseases in southern Africa. During 1972, 10 000 cattle died of the disease in the Transkei.
Infected blue ticks transmit the disease. Blue ticks occur in the higher rainfall regions of the country, such as the Western and Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. All cattle breeds are susceptible to redwater, but indigenous breeds such as Ngunis and Sangas have greater resistance against the disease. |
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Through the tick bite the "germ" (organism) lands in the animal's blood stream, where it destroys the red-blood cells. Symptoms such as high temperature, loss of appetite, lethargy, weakness, diarrhea, red urine (redwater) and diabetes - if the animal lives long enough - are common. Sometimes the animal dies before the symptoms can be observed.
Nervous symptoms such as over-sensitivity, circling movements, aggression, convulsions and paralysis can also be typical of redwater. |
The diagnosis of redwater is confirmed by the examination of a blood smear for parasites. It is important to confirm the diagnosis with a blood smear because other diseases such as tick-borne gall sickness (anaplasmosis), leptospirosis and copper or carbon poisoning can be confused with redwater. Redwater is controlled in two ways, namely the inoculation of young animals and tick control.
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Let us first consider inoculation as a method of control:
In areas where ticks are present, most calves will become infected at an early age, but because calves have a natural resistance to this disease, they display few or no symptoms of the disease, and recover rapidly, after which they are immune to the disease for a period varying from a few years to practically the rest of their lives, depending on the tick load on the farm. |
Because tick numbers cannot be controlled, it is safer to inoculate all calves against the disease.
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Redwater inoculants contain live organisms that can make older animals seriously ill or even cause them to die. Inoculate calves when they are between three and nine months old, because young animals seldom develop serious symptoms, Nevertheless, inoculated animals must be kept under close observation for two to three weeks after inoculation. If an animal gets sick, it must be treated immediately. You are welcome to contact your nearest veterinarian in this regard. |
Remember that immunity does not develop until four to six weeks after inoculation. It is therefore important to inoculate animals at least two months before they are moved to a redwater region.
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A second method of control is by the control of ticks. This must be aimed at the creation of a stable disease situation. This is to say there must be a sufficient number of infected ticks to immunize young calves, thus preventing older animals from getting sick. This is obviously more cost effective, because tick-control measures can be eased. If mature animals do get sick, it is an indication that the young animals have not been exposed to a sufficient number of infected ticks to immunize them. This indicates an unstable disease situation, that is to say, overly strict tick control. |
DH de Lange
ELSENBURG / GEORGE Veterinary Services
