SASKATOON – The bovine venereal disease trichomoniasis has been found in at least three Alberta community pastures.
This is the first positive finding of the disease in Alberta cattle.
Three bulls tested positive when entering three northeastern Alberta pastures and were destroyed. Seven more bulls tested positive when they left the Minburn, Rannach and Wolf Lake community pastures, said Gerry Ehlert, provincial grazing reserve manager in St. Paul.
Until now, the disease had only been identified in Manitoba and Saskatchewan community pastures.
Through a Farming for the Future program, community pastures in northeast and southern Alberta were tested for the disease, which can cause abortion in cattle.
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Trichomoniasis is caused by a tiny parasite which lives in the sheath and prepuce of an infected bull, which can cause abortion rates of 40 to 60 percent in a cow herd. It is usually transmitted by bulls four years and older. Some cows can also become carrier cows.
No cattle in the southern pastures have tested positive.
“It’s not good news, but it may be a reason we have a percentage of open cows. This may be the factor,” said Ehlert.
Some pastures not in study
The disease hasn’t been found in other community pastures, but not all pastures in the province were included in the study.
Pasture officials are recommending producers have their cows tested for trichomoniasis at the same time they pregnancy test.
“It’s not a panic situation. It’s a disease that’s preventable and controllable,” said Ehlert.
Over the winter a preventative program for community pastures will be developed, he said.
Disease under control
Peter Rempel, director of veterinary services with Saskatchewan agriculture, said authorities feel they now have the disease under control.
With new testing techniques, they’ve gone past the identification stage into the control and prevention stage, said Rempel, of Regina.
They will be monitoring and testing cows and bulls well into the new year. Rempel said trichomoniasis isn’t limited to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Recent confirmation of the disease in Alberta shows trichomoniasis doesn’t stop at the border.
“They were smugly sitting over there saying ‘they don’t know how to control the problem in Saskatchewan.’ We’ve done one hell of a job of monitoring where the positives are.”
The Canadian Cattlemens Association said it is studying the matter to determine if trichomoniasis should be made a reportable disease, under Agriculture Canada guidelines.
