Anthrax is a serious disease of cattle that pops up somewhere almost every year in South Dakota and the Midwest. It’s caused by a bacteria that survives as a tough spore form in the soil. Cattle encounter the bacteria -- Bacillus anthracis -- when they graze close to the ground or when spores have been washed up on grass from previous pasture flooding. Once the spores are eaten by the cow or bull, they activate into rapidly growing bacteria that have devastating effects on the animal’s whole system. The result is a rapid death, usually progressing so suddenly that no signs of illness are observed prior to death.
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Russ Daly is a professor and veterinarian for the South Dakota State University-Extension. Marlene Braun is a microbiologist in the South Dakota Animal Disease Research and Diagnostic Lab.
