Cattle struck by mystery disease

The disease, which first hit stock in the Western Division in 2006 before striking again toward the end of 2009, has DPI experts baffled with an investigation now in the hands of the department's animal biosecurity unit.

"To date, laboratory tests have returned inconclusive and further sampling is under way," a DPI spokesperson said in a statement.

"An expert panel has been convened to investigate the deaths and includes an epidemiologist, virologist and animal biosecurity staff."

The DPI response is a necessary move that has come at the end of a difficult-to-fathom delay, according to Mossgiel grazier Terry Huntly, who has suffered significant stock losses in each of the outbreaks.

"If they (DPI) are worried about the beef industry there should have been more emphasis on finding out what it is," he said.

"This time it started in October and has been going ever since. I've lost 32 head from one mob of 68."

The mystery illness has hit herds located west of Hay, both to the north and south.

"Up at Nymagee (south of Cobar) I hear they've been burning bodies," said Mr Huntly, who has been gathering information from affected graziers across a wide area.

"People have shot a lot of cattle and buried a lot of cattle. Three hundred-plus head have died, and that's just what I know of."

A call from the DPI for producers to "contact their private veterinarian or Livestock Health and Pest Authority" should they notice "any unusual signs in their cattle, including drooling, diarrhoea or sudden death" included in yesterday's statement was the first public warning of any kind to graziers, according to Mr Huntly.

This year's outbreak has shown no sign of abating and investigative work has intensified, according to DPI senior veterinary officer Western Division Greg Curran.

"We are building on what we've learned in previous outbreaks," he said.

"Terry Huntly has put a lot of work into this issue. He's has been a great conduit between graziers and authorities in the transfer of information."

The possibility an unidentified disease killing cattle in western NSW could be responsible for fatalities in others species, including wildlife, will be investigated by the Department of Primary Industries.

Responding to a third outbreak of the killer illness, the DPI has set up an expert panel to investigate the stock deaths.

DPI senior veterinary officer Western Division Greg Curran yesterday said tests would be carried out to determine if there was a link with sheep, crow and rabbit deaths.

"We've just picked up on it this year and haven't had the chance to investigate but there are unusual and important reports coming out of the field," he said.

"We are hearing about crows dying after scavenging on the cattle carcasses and people are noticing rabbits dying at about the same time as stock are affected.

"It might be something else entirely because with the focus on something like this (in cattle) it's easy to draw too much of a conclusion, but we're investigating."

Observations surrounding cattle fatalities were both disturbing and intriguing, he said.

"This year we've begun to see what we call 3D drooling, diarrhoea and death. Most animals affected die.

"What really strikes a vet when the (dead) animals are opened up is the number of organs affected and we consistently see damage to the esophagus which is really unusual."

​Indicators of the disease in cattle
■ lack of appetite, calves won’t suckle
■ ears held forward
■ watery eyes
■ diarrhoea, drooling
■ death within 72 hours
■ symptoms in any individual animal could be mistaken as indictative of other diseases such as black leg, salmonella, shipping fever or bovine viral death (BVD).
■ autopsies reveal extensive damage to the esophagus and all other organs and muscle tissue breakdown