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A Robertson County cattle ranch has been placed under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after a cow was found to be infected with malignant catarrhal fever.
The cow reportedly was infected by a wildebeest -- part of an exotic herd also on the ranch -- that was giving birth, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. A total of six heifers have since been found to be infected, according to ranch officials.
The foreign animal disease, more commonly referred to as MCF, is not contagious among cattle but can be spread from a cow to her calf, federal officials said. Though highly fatal for cattle, it poses no threat to humans.
"All the experts on the disease say that there is no bovine-to-bovine transmission," said Mark Cowan, president of Franklin-based Camp Cooley Ranch, where the disease was found. "Because we did have such good records, we feel like we're confident we've identified a relatively small group of animals that could have possibly been exposed. We're working with the USDA and the Texas Animal Health Commission to figure out the best course of action on those possible exposures."
Camp Cooley spans 11,000 acres. The heifers that may have been exposed were confined to a 400-acre area, said Cowan, who declined to speculate on how many total cows could have been exposed. No bulls were exposed because none were in that part of the ranch, he said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed the infection on April 17, after receiving positive test results from its National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, according to a statement released the following day that did not identify the ranch. The federal agency has since launched an investigation and is tracing the movement of all potentially affected animals.
According to a USDA statement, 134 breeding heifers recently were shipped to other parts of Texas as well as Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi. However, the interstate movement is not considered a concern because the disease cannot be transmitted from cattle to cattle.
When such a disease is discovered, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service works with state and local animal health authorities to quarantine the facility in question and euthanize any infected animals, according to Karen Eggert, a spokeswoman for USDA inspection service.
Eggert confirmed Tuesday that an epidemiological investigation was under way at a "mixed-use" operation in Texas, but she declined to name the ranch or its location, citing federal policy.
"This operation has had cattle and wildebeest coexisting for many years without any issues," Eggert said, adding that she did not expect the investigation to have any sort of economic impact on the ranch.
Caused by the herpes virus, there are two known strains of MCF -- one associated with sheep, which is fairly common in the country, and another associated with wildebeests, which is considered foreign, Eggert said.
"This is not contagious in cattle. There is no threat to human health," she said. "This is a disease found in a wildebeest. The reason we're concerned is because cattle can pass it to their offspring. They can't pass it from cow to cow."
The inspection service conducts up to 500 similar investigations annually and few end up being considered highly serious -- which would be the case with diseases such as tuberculosis and brucellosis, Eggert said. Operations under quarantine are compensated for any animals that are euthanized as a result of the investigation.
Federal officials have notified the World Organization for Animal Health, which requires member nations to report any occurrence of certain transmissible animal diseases. Though it isn't considered a disease that could spread rapidly or cause public health consequences, the wildebeest strain of MCF must be reported, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture statement.
Cowan said the ranch reported the infection to the Texas Animal Health Commission after a veterinarian made the diagnosis.
"We've been fully cooperating with their investigation, providing them with all the details that we possibly could to aid them in their investigation into the cause and trying to identify possibly exposed animals," Cowan said.
The Department of Agriculture originally placed the ranch under quarantine, prompting Camp Cooley to postpone Charolais and Angus female sales that were scheduled for April 25 and 28, respectively. The animals that were to be sold since have been released from the hold, as have most of the other animals on the ranch, Cowan said.
The wildebeest heard, which contains about 15 to 20 animals, will be euthanized, Cowan said. All remaining exotic animals -- there are about 17 breeds at the ranch -- remain under a hold until the investigation determines which species could be carriers of the disease. A "relatively small number" of beef heifers at the ranch also remain on hold, Cowan said, adding that he hoped the investigation would be complete by early next week.
"It's never happened before," Cowan said when asked if Camp Cooley ever had experienced similar problems. "The wildebeest herd has been here for 15 years, and we've never had any incidents in the past. But we're a cattle ranch. If they can infect cattle, we really don't want any of them."
• Holly Huffman's e-mail address is holly.huffman@theeagle.com.
