Name: Date:

Logan Garrett 4/18/2018

Area:
Animal science- Animal Health
Job:
Cattle Diseases
Situation:
The past couple of days were spent looking at different parasites and the effects they have on animals. Our next
couple of lessons are going to be about diseases impacting specific livestock. Today we will discuss cattle.

Standards:
ANSC.05.02.b Classify diseases, identify causative agents of transmission, including zoonotic diseases
ESSK.01.02.c Organize oral and written information.
ESSK.01.02.i Predict potential outcomes and/or solutions based on oral and written information regarding trends.
ESSK.01.03.b Demonstrate knowledge of basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication,
and division.
ESSK.01.03.e Analyze Mathematical problem statements for missing and/or irrelevant data.
Targets/Questions/Objectives:
Identify some cattle diseases based on symptoms. Understand that control and prevention will typically save you
money over treatment plans.
References and Resources for Lesson:
http://www.thecattlesite.com/diseaseinfo/233/ringworm-in-cattle/
https://www.drovers.com/article/leptospirosis-treatment-and-prevention
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/in-depth/germs/art-20045289
http://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/ohiostoresmap.html
Materials Needed:
Worksheets, Cards for disease matching activity
Plan of Action:
1. Good morning everyone, welcome back to animal science! For those of you still interested in
applying for an officer position do not forget you applications are due tomorrow (any other
announcements).
2. After our gross and exciting lessons on parasites, I hope none of you are feeling “lousy!” Now that
we got a cheesy joke out of the way, we can continue looking at more diseases today!
3. Each of you are going to work in pairs and rotate through three different stations. The three
stations are; a disease symptoms station, an understanding causes of disease station, and a cost
analysis station. I will talk you through each of them as soon as you each have one of these
packets.
4. Station 1: In this station you will have 4 different diseases and some facts about them. You will also
have 4 different scenarios. Your task is to try to determine which scenario matches each of the
diseases. An example would be a card that explained liver flukes, this would be matched to a
scenario about a cow living in a swamp area, where snails were found upon investigation.
5. Station 2: In this station you will use the second page of your packet and read the article. You will
then use one of the colored highlighters to highlight something new you learned from the article.
Once you have finished, you will swap articles with your partner and they will highlight what they
did in their packet. You will then discuss what the coolest thing you read was.
6. Station 3: In this station you will use the final pages of your packet. There are 2 scenarios there
discussing cost of control and treatment for different diseases. Your task is to calculate each of
these and determine what your cheaper option is.
 7. Are there any questions about the packet and your jobs for today? Alright you will need to be in
groups of 2. You will each need a writing utensil. You will have 10 minutes at each station and then
we will discuss it at the end of class.
8. Go over all the answers at the end of class.
9. Have all of the students take 30 seconds to write down what they felt was the most important
thing they learned today.
10. If extra time arises have them also write down what their favorite thing they learned today was.
Knowledge/Skills/Dispositions targeted on this lesson:
Ability to analyze a chunk of text in order to relate it to real world situations

Assessment Plan – What did students learn? How do you know?

There are a couple different assessments happening during this lesson. The first will be how well students are able
to read scenarios and relate them to a chunk of information. I will know how well they did this by walking around
and checking their packets. The second is their answers to what they felt was most important from class today. I will
collect these papers and will be able to assess what they learned the best from today.
Attached:
 Disease and scenario cards for first station
 Second station directions
 Cattle Diseases packet
 Cattle Diseases packet answers
 Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD): Hardware Disease:

 Caused by a virus  Sharp object penetrates stomach

 Symptoms range from no signs to wall
death  Happens when reticulum contracts
 Symptoms:  Gives object access to the heart
o fever,  Nearly impossible to treat if magnet
o lethargy,
does not help
o loss of appetite,
 Older cattle are impacted more
o ocular and nasal discharge,
often
o oral lesions,
 Symptoms:
o diarrhea,
o decreased milk production
o loss of appetite,
 Most important symptom is o depression,
infertility o not moving,
 Calves can be a carrier of the virus o stomach pain
without showing symptoms  Can be very difficult to diagnose
 Biosecurity is important!
 Leptospirosis:
 Caused by a bacteria
 The bacteria travels through urine,
milk, and semen
 It is transmitted through mucosal
membranes
 Is a zoonosis
 Symptoms: abortion, blood-tinted
milk, lower milk yield, infertility,
fever, lethargy, stiffness
 Treatment: Intramuscular injection
of antibiotic
Ringworm:
 Caused by a spore forming fungi
 Gray-white areas of skin with ashy
appearance
 Circular formations, that are slightly
raised
 In calves, most commonly seen
around ears, eyes, and on the back
 Younger animals are more
susceptible
Scenario 2:
You walk out into the field and notice
strange lumps on your cows. They do
not seem to have any other
symptoms besides some minor itching
of the lumps. You notice there are a
lot of animals in this crowded area
and almost all of them are showing
the same signs. It looks as though the
animals have very dry skin. Upon
inspecting a calf, you notice his
lesions are mainly around his eyes.
Scenario 1:
You are called to a dairy because the
owner has noticed a drop in his milk
yields. When you pull up to the dairy,
you notice an angus bull in a pen
with some Holstein cows. The dairy
owner tells you he is borrowing the
bull from his neighbor down the
road. When you enter the parlor, you
notice orange drainage leaving one
of the cow’s udders. When you ask
the owner if he has been feeling
well, he tells you he is starting to feel
as though he is getting the flu.
Scenario 3:
Your cow is not eating and is moving
very slowly. It seems as though she
has some discomfort in her stomach.
She is a heifer, but you think she
might be pregnant. Besides her
obvious discomfort, you are not
seeing many other symptoms.
Scenario 4:
After purchasing a few new cows from
the sale barn, your friend calls saying
some of his cows have discharge
coming from their facial orifices. They
seem to be moving very slowly and
not eating as well. You notice that
many of these cows have slight fevers.
As you walk around the property
trying to see if you can find a cause,
you notice what seems to be an
aborted calf. At this point you know
exactly what the disease is and
immediately bag the dead calf.
At this station,

 Read through the article

 Highlight any information you did not know

before

 Once you have finished, have your partner

highlight the new information they
highlighted on their article.

 After reading, what is the coolest thing you

found?
 Investigating Cattle Diseases
Name: ____________________________
Date: ________________

Matching the Disease to a Scenario:

Please place the scenario number next to the corresponding
disease.

Hardware Disease ______________________________

Ringworm ______________________________

Leptospirosis ______________________________

Bovine Viral Diarrhea ______________________________

Determining Cost of Treatment vs. Control
Scenario 1:
You are a very small-scale cattle producer. You own 10 cows who
produce 1 calf annually. You sell all of your calves every year for around
$1.10 per pound and they reach around 500 pounds when you sell
them. Your female cows weigh and average of 1,000 pounds. A friend
suggests that this year you should vaccinate against Leptospirosis
(Lepto.). After doing some research, you discover that you can give
each of your cows Spirovac L5. Each cow will require 2 doses of 2mL in
a subcutaneous injection. The bottles either come with 10 doses or 50
doses. A bottle with 10 doses costs $36.99 and a bottle with 50 doses
costs $174.95. You then decide to calculate the cost of treatment for
your animals in case they were to get leptospirosis because you did not
vaccinate. You will need to use an antibiotic like that of oxytetracycline.
To administer this you can use LA200. You will have to give 4.5 mL per
100 lbs. per animal. A 500 mL bottle costs $70.93. If you caught the
disease too late, and all of your cows were infected, aborted their
calves, and became infertile, what is your cost then? What is your best
financial option?

Cost of preventative dose: ______________

Cost of treatment: _____________

Cost of losing herd to lepto.: ______________

Scenario 2:
You believe one of your cows might have swallowed a nail that was
near the barn as you were doing some construction. Knowing that a
cow’s stomach is pretty tough you are unsure of whether or not you
should take any measures to keep the cow safe. You decide to research
your options. It can cost as little as $3 to buy a large cow magnet to
stuff down your cow’s throat to attach to the nail and prevent it from
penetrating the stomach wall. You then look into what could happen if
the nail did puncture the stomach wall. You find that treatment is
nearly impossible at this point and your best option is to put the cow
down even though you know she is pregnant.

Cost of magnet: __________________

Cost of losing cow and calf: _______________