Infectious Livestock Diseases Trivia Quiz

Answer: All of these can cause disease

All of these are transmissible pathogens (disease causing agents). There are many ways pathogens can be transmitted, including though the air, in the feces of infected animals, in contaminated milk or meat, and by insect intermediaries. Some pathogens can live in the soil for years, making decontamination extremely difficult.

Answer: Releasing sterile male flies

Millions of male flies were sterilized by irradiation and released in screwworm areas. This method takes advantage of the fact that the females will only mate with a single male. Unlike the maggots of most other flies,which feed on dead tissue, screwworm larvae feed on living tissue and cause major damage or even death to infected livestock. Almost any animal can get screwworm.

Answer: Avian influenza

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is most virulent (disease causing) for domestic poultry such as chickens and turkeys. Since many sea birds can carry the virus without becoming sick, they are a considered one of the largest risks for spreading the disease to new areas. The H5N1 designation refers to the protein structure of the virus.

Answer: Britain

Foot and mouth is an extremely contagious viral disease. The 2001 outbreak originated at a farm where pigs were being fed untreated waste and quickly spread to sheep and cattle farms throughout the United Kingdom.

Answer: The State Veterinarian

The Department of Agriculture in each state maintains a list of livestock diseases and the requirements for reporting a suspected or confirmed outbreak. If warranted, authorities may declare an emergency and take proper measures to contain the disease. In extreme cases, these measures may include mass culling of infected and potentially infected animals.

Answer: Bluetongue

While it does occasionally cause the tongue to turn blue, more common symptoms are fever, swelling of the head, and excessive salivation. In susceptible breeds, it can have a 100% mortality rate. Bluetongue is transmitted through insect bites.

Answer: Pay compensation to people whose animals have to be destroyed due to outbreak

In poorer areas, if people's animals become ill they will frequently move them or slaughter and sell them in order to avoid detection and monetary loss. Some pathogens can survive even in frozen meat, so this is a great way to spread disease. It's important for governments to have a system of compensation to help prevent this sort of behavior. Antibiotics are not effective against many diseases, inspecting every small animal holder throughout a country is unrealistic, and people who have families to feed will not always be deterred by the threat of stringent penalties.

Answer: Slaughter and destruction of the carcasses

There is no treatment for hog cholera, which can be extremely infectious and have a high mortality rate. If an outbreak occurs the infected animals are destroyed, along with their bedding and any other potentially contagious material. Pigs at neighboring farms may also be destroyed to contain the disease.

Answer: Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is spread through the urine of infected animals and can survive in water or damp soil for months. In humans, it causes flu like symptoms and can lead to renal failure and death if left untreated. In cattle, it can cause widespread abortions and still-births. Leptospirosis can be treated with antibiotics if caught early enough.

Answer: Prions

Prions are normally transmitted through the ingestion of meat which contains nervous tissue from infected animals. When prions come in contact with a normal protein, they can cause it to misfold and become another prion; these accumulate and cause damage to the nervous system. Because prions come from the animal's own proteins, there is no immune system response against them, which makes this type of disease extremely difficult to treat.

Other prion diseases are Creutzfeld-Jacob in humans, chronic wasting disease in elk, and scrapie in goats and sheep.