There is a phenomenon of unusual cow deaths in a mountainous district of Nghe An.

On July 8, people in Truong Son village, Nam Can commune, Ky Son district reported that there was an unusual phenomenon of cows dying in the farm area. Specifically, the cow belonged to Mr. Xong Ba Lau's family, Truong Son village.

The dead cow was discovered by people in Truong Son village, Nam Can commune on July 8. Photo provided by people

Verifying this information, Mr. Lau Ba Chay - Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Can commune said that the commune leaders also heard people report that 3 cows died in the area. "The phenomenon of cows dying is very fast. A cow was healthy but only a few hours later it was discovered that it had died. Initial observations showed that there were many bruises between the cow's toenails" - Mr. Lau Ba Chay said.

Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ky Son district, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Truong also said that after verifying information about the phenomenon of dead cows in Nam Can commune, the department directed veterinary officers of the district and commune to verify and take samples for testing to determine the correct disease in order to have timely treatment and prevention measures for people's livestock.

Nam Can people often let their buffalo and cows roam freely in farms far from residential areas, so monitoring the disease situation in livestock is somewhat limited. Photo: CSCC

Mr. Truong added that in the past, Ky Son district had also had an epidemic of anthrax in buffalo and cow herds. In addition, there was also anthrax, which also caused buffalo and cows to die very quickly if there were no timely preventive measures.

It is known that Nam Can commune currently has 6 villages, with a total herd of about 2,000 cattle. Currently, the commune veterinary staff is verifying and finding the cause of the cow deaths to promptly take timely treatment and prevention measures.

1. DiseaseAnthraxIn buffaloes and cows, it is caused by Pasteurella bacteria; it usually occurs in hot and humid areas. During the rainy season, bacteria present in the soil are brought to the ground surface by water, sticking to straw, grass and drinking water. Buffaloes and cows that eat or drink the bacteria will be infected. In the acute form, the incubation period is short, from 1 to 3 days, the animal does not chew its cud, is exhausted, restless, and has a sudden high fever of 40 - 42 degrees Celsius. The mucous membranes of the eyes and nose turn dark red and then turn gray. Tears and nasal discharge flow continuously. The lymph nodes are all swollen, especially the subpharyngeal lymph nodes, which are very swollen, causing the animal to stick out its tongue, have difficulty breathing and die. This disease is also known as "double-tongued buffalo and cow disease".

2. DiseaseGastric canceris an acute infectious disease of buffaloes and cows, caused by anaerobic bacteria Clostridium chauvoei and some other anaerobic bacteria. Typical symptoms are swelling of the muscles with gas, called "gas cancer". The disease progresses rapidly from 3 to 6 hours. The animal is eating grass or plowing suddenly collapses, trembles and dies without any obvious symptoms. Some animals have cancer in the thighs and abdomen. The mortality rate in calves is up to 90%. There are cases where buffaloes and cows with this disease have paralysis of all four legs, urinary retention, and defecation retention and then die.