Agricultural News
Anthrax Confirmation in Jackson County
Wed, 01 Sep 2021 08:52:17 CDT
The preliminarily suspected case of Anthrax was confirmed on August 23. The herd the confirmed case originated from will be receiving their anthrax vaccine booster this week and will be released from quarantine shortly thereafter. There have not been any additional anthrax confirmations from this premises or adjacent premises. Please continue to be vigilant for acute deaths in livestock and report these deaths to ODAFF, especially if you have any concerns about Anthrax.
If you suspect Anthrax recommended steps are:
· Do not open the carcass or attempt to do a necropsy or post mortem exam. Opening the carcass can aerosolize the bacteria and expose other livestock or people and spread the bacteria.
· Take a blood sample (one purple top tube and one red top tube). The blood from animals that die from Anthrax typically doesn't clot and is fairly easy to get samples of.
· Notify your usual veterinarian and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry. Anthrax is a reportable disease and confirmed or suspected cases must be reported to ODAFF. Information on number of suspected deaths and geo coordinates are important so we can document the extent of an outbreak.
· Ship the samples to the lab you normally use. Pack the blood tubes securely to cushion them against breakage. The two most commonly used are OADDL in Stillwater and TVMDL in Amarillo. Ship the sample cooled (not frozen) to arrive as soon as possible. If you have not already done so, check with OADDL about the prepaid shipping service they have that will normally save money and get the sample to the lab more quickly.
· Dispose of the carcass by deep burial or burning. Don't drag on the ground as this can open the carcass and spread the bacteria. If the carcass must be moved slide it on some sort of skid.
· For concerns regarding human exposure to Anthrax, call Oklahoma State Department of Health, Acute Disease Services, at 405-426-8710.
There is an approved vaccine for Anthrax. We typically don't recommend vaccinating for Anthrax in Oklahoma because we're not an endemic area but with a confirmed case in Texas and a suspicious case in the SW corner of Oklahoma I don't think there is anything wrong with vaccinating livestock if you or your client wants to do that. If we do find other cases and it appears that it is going to be a larger outbreak then I would certainly recommend vaccinating herds in the vicinity of the confirmed cases. Here is a link to the vaccine web site: ANTHRAX VACCINE LINK
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