Ten cases of a venereal disease affecting beef and dairy cattle have turned up this year in six Colorado counties, including La Plata and Archuleta.
Trichomoniasis is caused by a protozoa, Trichomonas foetus, and is spread through breeding, state veterinarian Dr. Keith Roehr said in a telephone interview.
“It’s a low-level disease, but it’s never eradicated,” Roehr said. “The number of cases this year is typical of Colorado and of other Western states.”
La Plata County cattleman Phil Craig said he’d heard of the cases of trich, as it’s called, but didn’t know any specifics.
“No one I know is concerned,” Craig said.
Barbara Jeffries, past president of the La Plata Archuleta Cattlemen’s Association, said she mentioned six cases of trich in five counties in her October association newsletter.
“I think the increase in cases is because ranchers are testing bulls as they come off the range,” Jeffries said. “They don’t want to keep them over the winter if they’re infected.”
If bulls contract trich, it’s for life, but heifers clear themselves of the disease in 120 days, Roehr said.
A clue to pay attention to is a drop in the fertility rate, Roehr said. Fewer calves could be an indication of the venereal disease, which causes infertility, he said.
Colorado trich regulations require that bulls that have been bred and are changing ownership or bulls entering the state must be tested by an accedited veterinarian.
Bulls on public-land grazing permits or with grazing associations also must be tested before being turned out on the range.
daler@duangoherald.com
