Download Non-infectious Diseases

Non-infectious
Disease
Non-infectious diseases include:
Physical trauma – such as hardware disease, teat injuries, leg
abrasions, frozen ears;
Poisoning – may be due to:
• accidental ingestion of fungicides, herbicides, fertilizer,
lead from discarded batteries;
• ingestion of mouldy feeds containing mycotoxins;
• grazing toxic plant species such as water hemlock, death
camus or leafy spurge;
• excess intakes of normal dietary nutrients such as
selenium, vitamin D or monensin.
Genetic disease – an example is Bovine Leukocyte Adhesion
Deficiency (BLAD) which affects Holstein calves causing
stunted growth, pneumonia, delayed wound healing and
early death. The mutation affects the ability of the calves to
fight infection by interfering with the normal function of
neutrophils. Another example is Congenital Vertebral
Malformation (CVM) which results in shortened, mishapen or
fused vertebrae.
Allergies – some individual animals in a population will
produce an exaggerated immune response to a particular
antigen. A common example is hypersensitivity to penicillin
which produces anaphylactic shock in some animals.
Metabolic disorders – caused by an alteration in normal
biochemical processes in the body. They include milk fever,
grass tetany, ketosis, fatty liver syndrome and udder edema.
Reproductive disorders – such as cystic ovaries, retained
placenta and uterine prolapse may be due to a malfunction
in hormonal control, often secondary to another problem
such as a difficult calving (dystocia) or infectious disease.
source: Dairy Production Primer - Herd Health Management
©2004 Western Dairy Science Inc.