News

Foreign animal disease of cattle found in Illinois

A foreign animal disease impacting cattle has been detected in Illinois.

Dr. Leyi Wang, a veterinary clinical medicine professor with the University of Illinois, tells Brownfield Bovine Kobuvirus was the new virus recently found in fecal samples of cattle with diarrhea.

“We don’t know how this virus spread into the country and we think this should be circulating in the major cattle producing states in the US.”

He says USDA data shows neonatal diarrhea is the cause of 50% of calf mortalities in the US and this disease could be a factor.

He says currently there is not a vaccine to prevent the virus, so farmers need to take other preventative measures like practicing good biosecurity.

Wang tells Brownfield there is no way to know how or when the disease got to the US because cattle have not been tested for the virus, but research needs to be done to learn more about the disease and the scope of where it has spread.

“There is a need to constantly monitor the prevalence of the virus in the field.”

Bovine Kobuvirus is a disease of beef and dairy cattle and does not pose any human health risks. It was first discovered in Japan in 2003 and has also been detected in Asia, Europe, South America and Africa.