Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
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Two types of “lines” in the body’s
defense against disease organisms
» External Defense
– Skin, hair, feathers, fur, sweating, etc.
– Mucous Membranes
•
Nose, tearing in the eyes
– Gut
•
High acid which is difficult to pass through
– Cell Wall
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Coated with Mucous and Cilia
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (365) Continued
– Coughing up disease organisms which may
have been swallowed
– Urination
» Internal Defense
– White Blood Cells
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Help fight off infection
– Lymphatic system
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Filters out pathogens
– Liver
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Filters blood & detoxifies poisons
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
– Antibodies

Produced by body to fight off pathogens
» If pathogens make it past both defense
“Lines”, they will multiply, attach, and
destroy body tissue
» Some typical signs are:
– Redness from increase blood to injured area
– Swelling
– Temperature change in body/injury area
– Pain resulting
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
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Predisposing Conditions-ways in which the
animal could become ill
Overworked
Harsh weather conditions
Long Shipping (Shipping Fever)
Weaning
Injury
Management practices (Docking, Castration,
Branding, Tagging, Dehorning, etc.)
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
Stagnant Water
Spoiled feeds & Poisonous Plants
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Diseases Spread
 Rubbing against each other
 Rubbing against non-living things (fences, trucks,
feeders, needles)
 Infection from soil (tetanus, Blackleg)
 Infection from H2O/feed (influenza, viral infections)
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
 Airborne infection (coughing, sneezing)
 Infection from blood suckers (mosquitoes & Flies)
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Good Management Practices
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•
•
•
Be alert of stress and strain on animals
Provide clean,free from draft, disinfected area’s
Plenty ventilation and sunlight
Proper drainage of waste in barns, stalls, &
holding area’s
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
• No overcrowding
• Well balanced diet
• Diagnosis health problem and start
treatments right away
• Buy disease-free stock from auctions
• Separate new animals from herd for period
of time to be safe of diseases
• Have a set vaccination program
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
• Careful on people visiting from other farms
that may be carrying pathogens on clothes
or shoes
• Dispose of dead animals immediately
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued

IMMUNITY-is the condition of being
able to effectively combat infection.
 Two different ways:
– Antibodies which are produced by the body to
fight diseases
– Immunization (vaccination) usually made to
fight a specific diseases
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued

Immunity or Resistance to Disease
Natural Immunity: protection an animal has when
it is born
– Inherited from parents
Acquired Immunity : antibodies from other animal
or from exposure to the disease
– Passive Immunity: transferring antibodies from an
immunized to unimmunized animal
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Last three weeks
Young get from Mothers, example milk within first 24 hours
Animal Ways of Fighting The
Unseen Enemy (3057) Continued
– Active Immunity: Direct contact with the
disease that cause the body to produce
antibodies to combat invasion
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Antibodies can be made to fight off the disease
during contracting or recovering