Question

Have cple of animals to redwater put the same cattle on this land every year. Are their any vaccines or treatments I can give to try and prevent this, because it’s a bit costly to lose cows.

Thanks

Reply

Redwater or babesiosis, to give it its medical name, is caused by the protozoan parasite Babesia divergens. This is a blood parasite which invades the red blood cells once it gains entry to the bloodstream, multiplies within the red blood cells and eventually shatters them once a critical mass of parasites have built up within the cells. The substance that gives red blood cells their colour is called haemoglobin and this is needed for the transfer of oxygen from the lungs to the other tissues within the body. It is haemoglobin released from these destroyed red blood cells that gives the urine its red colour upon excretion – hence the name redwater.

Babesia divergens is spread by ticks which pass on the parasite when they bite and suck the blood of cattle. As a result redwater is prevalent at the times of year when ticks are most plentiful – i.e. when there is warm, humid weather conditions such as between May and September. Ticks are also most plentiful in certain types of land – usually rough grazing land and hilly land. This explains why you get problems in the same fields each year. Therefore, one of the main steps towards the prevention of redwater is to treat the cattle for ticks prior to and during the risk period. This involves the use of pyrethroid pour-ons or ivermectin pour-ons. There are many different products on the market and most of them give good protection for up to 6 weeks. Therefore, a pour-on should be used in mid to late April and again in early June.

In terms of a vaccine, there isn’t any in the traditional sense of the word. However, the therapeutic treatment for redwater – “Imizol” – can help prevent babesiosis for up to one month when injected at double the normal therapeutic dose. This is a much more expensive approach to the prevention of redwater, than by preventing tick bites, but is warranted where redwater is a serious problem on an annual basis. The animals that are most at risk of babesiosis are young immunologically-naive animals and bought-in animals. Therefore, it may be worth treating these animals with “Imizol” as well as using pour-ons on all animals during the risk period. As animals get older and are exposed to babesia divergens parasites on an annual basis, they will develop a natural immunity and shouldn’t need repeated injections of “Imizol”. It can happen though, that if there is a dramatic rise in tick populations and hence a greater challenge to the animals on the farm, even these preventative protocols can be overcome occasionally. Therefore, it is vital to remain vigilant during the risk period for signs of redwater (red urine and pipestem diarrhoea in the early stages progressing to constipation, weakness and recumbency) so that veterinary treatment of affected cases can be initiated as early as possible.

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