With outbreaks of Lumpy Skin Disease and Three-day Stiffsickness being picked up by veterinarians among cattle herds across the Highveld , cattle owners have been advised not to resort to “ boer-maak-n-plan ” remedies , but to place reliance on registered drugs and vaccines to combat the diseases . Excellent rainfall and relatively warm temperatures are what bring out the carriers of these diseases , and prevention is better than cure . Thus , vaccination of healthy animals , during the course of the year and before any possible outbreak , should form part of every livestock owner ' s regular regimen . Vaccinating sick animals is useless , say veterinarians . Moreover , treating sick animals with , for example , bizarre remedies such as injections of Dettol , or acetylsalicylic acid ( aspirin , to you ) is also useless , and possible dangerous . Antibiotics are used to treat lumpy skin disease , while anti-inflammatory products registered for livestock are used for three-day stiffsickness . Lumpy skin disease is transmitted by mosquitoes and flies , among others . It was first detected in what was Northern Rhodesia in 1929 , but has since spread throughout Africa , and outbreaks have also been reported from , among other countries , Israel and Bulgaria . Transmission can occur by
DISEASE
Wet weather brings on cattle ailments
Home-made remedies are daft , ineffective and dangerous say vets
ingestion of feed and water contaminated with infected saliva . The disease is characterised by painful nodules on the entire body , particularly on the head , neck and udder , between seven and 19 days after the animals are infected by the virus . The nodules can become necrotic ( ie the flesh dies off ). The disease is sometimes fatal . Three-day stiff-sickness , also called bovine ephemeral fever , is also a viral disease , particularly devastating in the dairy industry . Symptoms include a sharp rise in temperature followed by , among others , loss of appetite , a stiff gait , nasal discharge and salivation , inflamed joints , and rapid pulse and respiration rates . It is also an insect-transmitted disease .
QUIRKY
Moth repellant , maplotter-style
45 www . sasmallolder . co . za