Bad news from the slaughterhouse.

tyusclan · #1 06/30/08, 08:30 PM

I took two steers to the slaughter house on the 23rd. Found out on the Friday that the inspector found hepatitis in the liver, spleen and lymph nodes and condemned the carcasses.

I had all of it sold except a 1/4 that we were going to keep, so this is a big loss. The slaughter house talked to a vet, and he said that the type they had was not transferable to humans, but I certainly don't want to risk anyone getting sick.

I talked to the Extension Agent today, and he said he'd never heard of a cow having hepatitis. I have two other calves here about 5 months old, and I'm trying to find out what I need to do to get them tested now. They were in the pasture with the steers that were condemned, and if they have it already, I don't want to put any more into them.

I also want to find out how long I need to leave the pasture empty before it's safe to put livestock on it again. I've had these calves since they were a few days old, so I'm at a loss as to where this could have come from. I grazed them at my mom and dad's place for several months, and mom's cousin had rented it to run cattle on for years. Unless they got it from there, I don't know. If they got it here I don't know how it got here.

Just wanted to pass on my good news.

Ken Scharabok · #2 06/30/08, 09:30 PM

Checked Merek's Vet Manual. Formal name is Rift Valley Fever. Mosquito borne. Doesn't say if a mosquito bit someone with hepatitis and then cattle can pass it on. Manual says it is uncommon in adult cattle. Also said there is a vaccine for it for livestock. Check with your local vet. May have to special order it.

Ernie · #3 06/30/08, 09:35 PM

You need to find a new extension agent. If yours is like mine, then he's not capable beyond sending newspaper clippings to little old ladies who want to grow tomatoes in pots on their back porch.

Hepatitis in beef cattle has been in the news repeatedly over the past couple of years. Mostly this was due to Canadian and British practices of using a specific bovine growth hormone which was tainted and infected the cows with hepatitis. (I can't recall the brand. Maybe you can find it using Google.) It's part of why the big outcry against growth hormones came about.

I don't know that hepatitis would be "in the pasture". It may have come from contaminated feed, or they may have been fed contaminated milk or milk replacer. I'd consult an epidemiologist at one of the big ag colleges such as Purdue or Texas A&M. I'd love to hear what they have to say.

tyusclan · #4 06/30/08, 09:55 PM

Thanks for the replies and the info.

MARYDVM · #5 06/30/08, 10:28 PM

A diagnosis of hepatitis doesn't tell you much. Hepatitis just means liver disease. It could be caused by bacteria or a virus. It could show up as a liver abcess, or just a general deterioration of the liver. With the lymph nodes involved it could have been bovine leukemia. Maybe you should have your vet talk to the inspector to get more specific information about what was seen.

tyusclan · #6 06/30/08, 11:10 PM

The slaughter house is sending me a copy of the report, so I hope that I can get some more solid info.

The one thing that I wondered about is since hepatitis is a liver disease, why would that cause the meat to be bad? I could certainly understand condemning the liver, but I'm still not clear why that would condemn the carcass.

Ronney · #7 07/01/08, 06:33 AM

Ty, I'm sorry to hear this because I know that it is a huge financial loss as well as a worry.

I've not heard of hepatitis in cattle which means that if it does exist here, it is very rare. However, going on what Ernie has said, growth hormones never took off in a big way here either so that may be something to do with it.

However, I still feel that you've been ripped off in some way and to that end I agree with Mary. Many cattle go through the works with liver disease but they're not condemned because of it and little ever affects the meat. I think you need to chase this one up, not only from the point of view of the health of your existing stock, but also as to why they were seen to be unfit for human consumption if the hepatitis was not transferrable to humans. I've sent 3 animals off to the works that were diseased - one with MCF, another with FE (which does affect the liver big time) and another with Cancer Eye. None were condemned as being unfit for human consumption and our laws are pretty strict on this type of thing because the bulk of our overseas earnings comes from beef and dairy.

Keep us informed on what you find out - and try not to look at the bank balance

Cheers,
Ronnie

tyusclan · #8 07/03/08, 05:55 PM

Just to let everyone know, I'm still waiting on the copy of the report from the slaughterhouse.

I'm trying to get hold of the local USDA guy (whom I know personally) that does the live stock tests, to see what I have to do to get these calves tested.

Soon as I know something more concrete I'll pass it on.

momanto · #9 07/03/08, 06:01 PM

Hope This Clears Up For You In A Positive Way. Thank You For Sharing The Information With Us. Never Heard Of It Either, But Then We Take Ours To Sale Barn Or Private Sale......most Never Get Slaughtered That We Know Of.

Mom

tyusclan · #10 07/08/08, 05:12 AM

Quick update.

I spoke to my USDA friend last night. I hadn't tried to bother him over the holiday.

He'd already heard about it and had been checking into it. He spoke to another vet who said that his first idea would be that it came from Alpha-toxin mold. He's familiar with the feed that I've been feeding and in fact feeds the same feed himself, so we don't think that's where it came from. I've always been a stickler about throwing out any feed that gets wet or starts to show mold at all.

He's trying to find out if the USDA will test the sample on my calves that I still have. If so, he'll come pull the sample and send it off for me. If not, I'll have to have a vet do it.

More to come when I know.