How Diseases and Parasites Are Spread
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
40 Yearbook of Agriculture 1956 Tumors are another important and pines from ig2i to ig2j. He became staf common cause of noninfectious dis- assistant and consultant in parasitology in eases of livestock and poultry. the Animal Disease and Parasite Research These and some of the other causes Branch of the Agricidtural Research Service of noninfectious diseases are discussed in ig§4. in later sections. E. F. KNIPLING, a graduate of Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College and H. W. ScHOENiNG retired in ig^§ after Iowa State College, became chief of the ^Syears of service in the Department of Ag~ Enio?nology Research Branch in igjj. He riculture. At that time he was assistant to was formerly in charge of the Insects Affect- the chief of the Animal Disease and Parasite ing Alan and Animals Section of the Ento- Research Branch. He was chief of the mology Research Branch. He has been with Pathological Division of the former Bureau the Department of Agriculture since igji. of Animal Industry for 20 years. AUBREY M. LEE is head of the Nonin- BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ has been engaged fectious Diseases Section of the Animal in parasitological research since igi^. He Disease and Parasite Research Branch, was chief of the geological Division of the Agricultural Research Service. He received Department^ s former Bureau of Animal In- his degree in veterinary medicine at Kansas dustry from igj6 to ig^j and professor of State College in ig22 and has been with the parasitology in the University of the Philip- Department of Agriculture since igj^* How Diseases and Parasites Are Spread H.W. SCHOENING, BENJAMIN SCHWARTZ, AND ARTHUR W. LÍNDQUIST WHEN disease-causing bacteria and large numbers of the organisms in a viruses establish themselves in an ani- vegetative stage. The vegetative forms mal, they attack certain tissues, mul- develop into spores when they become tiply, and set up a disease process. exposed to the air through the opening The infected animal eliminates with of the carcass or the escape of blood its excreta the causative organisms, from the natural openings of the body. so that its surroundings become con- The organisms then are hard to kill. taminated and other susceptible ani- They can withstand high and low tem- mals are exposed to the contagion. peratures and retain their infective ca- The ability of the infection to survive pacity for years. Once the soil becomes outside the animal body until it can infected with anthrax spores, therefore, gain entrance to a new host largely it may remain dangerous for suscep- determines its ability to spread disease. tible animals for long periods. Another disease-producing organism CERTAIN BACTERIA can live for in- that is quite resistant to adverse influ- definite periods outside the animal ences is the germ that causes swine body and still retain a high degree of erysipelas. It does not go into a spore virulence. stage, but it can live in certain soils for An example is the anthrax organism. long periods, and the suggestion has In the final stages of anthrax, the ani- even been made that active multiplica- mal's blood stream and tissues contain tion may take place in suitable types of How Diseases and Parasites Are Spread 41 soil. Here again the infected animal ground, where the susceptible animals contaminates its surroundings through easily pick up the infection. In the its discharges. early stages of the disease, the virus is found in the blood, milk, saliva, urine, THE VIRUS DISEASES are alike in sev- and perhaps the feces. Because of the eral ways, but their mode of transmis- large quantities of the virus thus elim- sion may vary considerably, depending inated by affected animals and its on the nature of the disease and the ex- highly infectious nature, a wide dis- tent to which the virus has multiplied semination of the disease in a short within the body of the affected animal. time is possible. Infection takes place when the virus in a proper state is introduced into a sus- A CARRIER ANIMAL is One that carries ceptable animal. an infective agent within its body Rabies, for example, is caused by a without showing evidence of illness. filterable virus that is found in the It may eliminate the infective agent saliva of an affected animal and under from time to time and act as a source natural conditions it is transmitted of infection to other animals; or the through the bite of a rabid animal, carrier animal itself through some ad- usually a dog. The disease causes de- verse condition may develop a frank generative changes in the brain, which attack of the disease; or the infection cause affected animals to become ag- may be carried from a carrier to a gressive and attack or bite any avail- normal animal through the bite of an able object. After the virus is deposited insect. in the tissues, usually through the in- Certain animals that have recovered jury made by the bite, it is believed to from infection with the virus of foot- move from the site of deposit by way and-mouth disease may retain active of the nerves. Eventually it reaches the virus within their bodies for months or the central nervous system—the brain years and discharge the virus from and spinal cord. time to time in sufficient amounts to Equine encephalomyelitis, which cause the disease in susceptible ani- sometimes is known as sleeping sick- mals. ness or blind staggers of horses, is an- In infectious anemia of horses—so- other virus disease that attacks mainly called swamp fever—a carrier stage is the brain and spinal cord, although it seen in which an apparently normal can propagate also in other tissues, in- animal carries the infective agent in its cluding the skin. Early in the infection blood stream for many years, perhaps the virus of equine encephalomyelitis during the rest of its life. It seems lives for a short time in the blood that this disease is transmitted mainly stream. It then disappears from the by biting insects. blood and is found only in the brain Wild animals and birds also may be and spinal cord. Nervous symptoms of reservoirs and spreaders of diseases as, the disease are noted early. It can be for example, foot-and-mouth disease, transmitted by the bites of a number rinderpest, and trypanosomiasis. of different species of mosquitoes and other insects. The disease is therefore FARM ANIMALS acquire parasites by considered to be spread chiefly through grazing on contaminated pastures; by biting insects. ingesting feed or hay contaminated The virus of foot-and-mouth dis- with the manure of parasitized ani- ease is an example of the viruses that mals; by swallowdng contaminated affect skin membranes. Vesicles, which soil, water, insects, and other small form in the mouth and on the soft forms of animal life that harbor infec- parts of the feet, contain the infective tive stages of parasites; by eating the agent. When they rupture, the virus is flesh or other tissues of animals that disseminated in the litter and on the harbor infective stages of parasites; or 42 Yearbook of Agriculture 1956 by being bitten by infected insects soon after they have been eliminated and ticks. from animals, because their ability to Among the practices that contribute live outside the host is sharply limited. to the dissemination of parasites are: Trichomonads in the intestines of Bringing parasitized stock to a farm or swine and other animals and in poultry ranch from the outside; using per- arc transmitted in that way. manent pastures year in and year out; spreading manure on pastures; placing WORM PARASITES of the alimentary feed on the ground of barns, stalls, and canal, or of the lungs and other organs other shelters; and allowing parasi- that have a direct or indirect connec- tized dogs to be near livestock. tion with the alimentary canal, pro- duce eggs, which are eliminated with To INSURE their perpetuation, para- the droppings. sites eliminate their reproductive ele- The swine kidney worm is one of the ments in the form of eggs or larvae, few parasites that eliminates its eggs which as a rule are produced in enor- into the ureter, from which they are mous numbers to compensate for the voided with the urine. Once the eggs likelihood that many of them will per- reach the outside, regardless of how ish before they can get into another they are eliminated from the host's host. Furthermore, the reproductive body, they develop and become in- elements often are encased in shells fective as eggs, or they hatch into and other tough membranes, which larvae, or the eggs have to be swal- enable them to survive for a long time lowed by intermediate hosts. Gold outside the body even when conditions weather retards the development of are unfavorable. parasite eggs, but during favorable Many protozoan and worm parasites weather the eggs develop rapidly. of animals are transmitted through Those that hatch yield larvae, which the excreta. Parasites that inhabit the undergo their transformations to the digestive tract of cattle, sheep, goats, infective stage in about one week or swine, horses, poultry, and wild ani- more, depending on the temperature. mals are transmitted in that way. The larvae that first emerge from Some protozoan parasites transmit- eggs feed almost constantly on bacteria ted through the excreta of the host and bits of organic matter, grow rap- have a resistant form known as a cyst— idly, and molt in a day or two. Before a resting stage, microscopic in size, they become infective they undergo usually rounded, and enclosed in a at least a partial second molt, after membrane.