The Kansas State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and K-State Research and Extension provided facts about anaplasmosis in cattle.
– Anaplasmosis bacteria live in red blood cells of cattle. Flies and ticks spread the bacteria when they ingest infected blood. Using needles contaminated with blood from infected animals can also transfer the bacteria.
– Anaplasmosis can infect animals of all ages, but only mature animals express clinical symptoms. They include sudden death, icterus (yellow appearance around the eyes or vulva), and aggression or excitability. If left untreated, some mature cattle with anaplasmosis will die. However, the organism is susceptible to appropriate doses of oxytetracycline (OTC).
– Almost every county in the eastern two-thirds of Kansas and several far-western counties had cattle that tested positive for anaplasmosis in 2015.
– There have already been confirmed cases of the disease in cattle in Kansas in 2016.
