Cattle Biosecurity

​Information on cattle diseases and biosecurity.

In this topic

  • Acetonaemia in Cows
    A disease commonly seen in high producing dairy cows, or in cows on a poor diet.
  • Acute Bovine Liver Disease
    Acute bovine liver disease affects beef and dairy cattle sporadically throughout Tasmania. ABLD can cause sudden death or the same photosensitisation symptoms observed in cases of facial eczema.
  • Botulism
    Although instances of botulism affecting humans are rare, it is a common disease in animals and birds.
  • Bovine Pestivirus
    Also known as bovine viral diarrhoea virus, or BVD or BVDV, or mucosal disease virus.
  • Brucellosis in Cattle
    Causes mass abortion in cattle herds.
  • Enzootic Bovine Leucosis (EBL)
    EBL is a viral disease of cattle.
  • Facial Eczema
    Facial eczema (FE) is a type of sunburn (sometimes called photosensitisation) affecting exposed areas of pale skin of cattle.
  • Foot-and-Mouth Disease
    Information about foot-and-mouth disease and how to keep it out of Australia and Tasmania.
  • Grass Tetany/Grass Staggers
    Grass tetany, grass staggers or magnesium deficiency can affect stock in late autumn, winter and spring. It can cause significant production losses or clinical signs including sudden death.
  • Johne's Disease (JD) in Cattle
    An incurable, infectious wasting disease.
  • Lumpy Skin Disease
    Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a serious and highly contagious emergency animal disease that affects cattle and buffalo.
  • Mad Cow Disease (BSE)
    Bovine spongiform encephalopathy affects cattle and can cause the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) in humans. BSE or mad cow disease has never been detected in Australia.
  • Perennial Ryegrass Staggers
    Caused by toxins in the leaves of perennial rye grass. This is not the same disease as grass tetany.
  • Salmonellosis in Dairy Cattle
    Salmonellosis is the clinical disease caused by a bacteria called Salmonella, which can live for long periods in the environment. Salmonellosis is a notifiable disease in Tasmania because of the risk to human health and also because it can cause serious losses on farm.

​See also:

  Mycoplasma Fact Sheet   (492Kb)


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