Cattle, no matter how large, are powerless in front of small parasites without timely human assistance. What is cattle teliasis, and how to deal with it, will be discussed in the article.

What is this disease?

Being a type of helminthiasis, teliasis is caused by nematodes, which are small parasitic worms that invade the visual organs of livestock. There they settle in conjunctival sacs and under the cover of the third century lead to various eye diseases, including a dangerous lesion of the cornea.

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The causative agent and its development life cycle

These worms parasitizing in the eyes are carried by barn flies. They introduce larvae into the visual organs of livestock, where they develop and reach maturity. Then the females of telyaz give birth to live larvae, which, however, are not yet capable of full parasitization in the host organism.

To do this, they need some metamorphoses that occur with the help of the same barn flies. Flies swallow these larvae from the eyes of animals, after which the larvae in the mushy body are twice transformed, become invasive individuals and, again, flies return to the eyes of animals.

Symptoms of Teliasis

The symptomatology of infection with an illness distinguishes its three stages.

The initial stage of the disease

This stage of the development of the disease is characterized by symptoms in the form of:

• profuse tearing;
• photophobia;
• inflammatory process in the ocular conjunctiva.

Second stage

At the second stage of infection, the following symptoms appear:

• swelling of the conjunctiva;
• discharge of pus and mucus from under the eyelids.

Third stage

The last stage is characteristic:

• an increase in body temperature of the animal;
• damage to the ocular cornea, which is expressed in its clouding, ulceration, protrusion and even perforation.

Diagnostics

The mild symptoms of the initial stage of parasitic infection usually require the study of tear fluid or conjunctival swabs in the laboratory. If an adult calf and their larvae are detected in the visual organ of a cow, the veterinarian has reason to make an accurate diagnosis.

Important! Disregarding the symptoms of the first two stages can lead to irreversible eye processes, up to the loss of vision in animals.

Pathological changes

The occurrence of teliasis in the organs of vision of animals entails consequences expressed by:

• conjunctivitis;
• keratitis;
• damage to the eye lens;
• clouding of the cornea;
• her ulceration.

Treatment

With such a complex disease, the best results are obtained by complex treatment, which fights not only with the parasites themselves, but also with the negative consequences caused by them.

Antibiotics

The use of antibiotics is precisely what aims to eliminate the complications that have arisen in the form of purulent conjunctivitis or an infectious lesion of the cornea. The sulfanilamide preparations and antibacterial agents of the penicillin line are best manifested here.

Macrolide antibiotics represented by azithromycin have also proven themselves well. About a gram of this remedy is placed in the conjunctival sac of each eye once a day for 5 days.

Antiparasitic drugs

To combat nematodes, subcutaneous injections are used using drugs such as:

• "Faskoverm", which is administered once in a volume of 0.005 g per kilogram of live weight;
• "Ivomek", administered once at the rate of 1 ml of the drug per 50 kg of cattle;
• "Levamisole", the injection of which is carried out once in the amount of 0.0075 ml per kilogram of live weight;
• "Rivertin", administered over 2 days at the rate of 0.2 g per kilogram of animal weight.

Important! Milk from cows subjected to antiparasitic injections is forbidden to consume before the expiration of two weeks after the last injection.

Drops and ointments

These funds are mainly used to overcome the negative consequences of the invasion of parasites in the visual organs of cattle:

1. Conjunctivitis resulting from telaziosis is treated with tetracycline ointment with novocaine or boric acid and zinc sulfate in the form of eye drops.
2. If the cornea is clouded, the animal is treated with ointment with potassium iodide.
3. An eyeball can also be washed with a solution of crystalline iodine in an amount of 1 g and potassium iodide in an amount of 1.5 g diluted in 2 liters of water. Eye washing is carried out three times a day.
4. Effective is the treatment of the cow’s eyes with three percent boric acid three times a day for a week.

Prevention

In order to prevent the occurrence of teliasis in the autumn and spring, they make universal prophylactic injections of antiparasitic drugs.

Did you know? Although cows, like bulls, contrary to myths about their reaction to red, do not distinguish any colors at all, their eyes have an almost circular view to be able to see a sneaking predator from any direction.

In addition, for preventive purposes carry out:

• the fight against the reproduction of barn flies by feeding the calves a mixture of salt and phenothiazine, after which their manure becomes a deadly “trap” for the larvae of flies;
• fencing of cattle in the hot season from the invasion of flies by keeping them in closed and shaded rooms;
• spraying of cowsheds with insecticidal agents in the form of "Ectomine" or "Neocidol";
• periodic change of pastures.

This defeat of livestock by parasitic worms, like any other affliction, is best recognized at the initial stage in order to facilitate treatment and prevent dangerous consequences. The ideal option is the prevention of the disease, which is sometimes not cheaper than treatment, but, nevertheless, always pays off.