September 5, 2013
Biosecurity Queensland has confirmed it is investigating the mysterious deaths of cattle on several properties in the South Burnett.
southburnett.com.au has spoken to several graziers in the Benair and Inverlaw areas who have lost young cattle in a spate of sudden deaths over the past month or so.
At least two autopsies have been performed – one by a private Kingaroy vet, and one by a Biosecurity Queensland expert based in Kingaroy.
Samples from the animals were submitted to the Biosecurity Queensland laboratory at Coopers Plains for testing.
A Biosecurity Queensland spokesman said yesterday these samples had been tested but a cause of death could not be determined.
Kingaroy vet Ashley Johnston said she had been called out by one property owner after he reported four deaths.
This owner, at Inverlaw, told southburnett.com.au one animal was was still alive when the vet arrived.
However it died before it could be euthanased. The vet immediately conducted an autopsy but could not see any apparent cause of death.
The grazier said he believed there were about seven other property owners around the area who had been affected by sudden cattle deaths, from poddy calves to older cattle.
“We have no idea about what we are dealing with,” he said.
“It’s like a new disease has come in. The only thing we have in common is that we are all on underground water.”
He said he was “frustrated” that no one seemed to know what had happened.
He said soil tests had been taken but no water tests.
A second grazier said he had three deaths recently, including a steer on Tuesday that he had only purchased about six weeks earlier.
He said he had never seen anything like this before but he didn’t know if his property had the same problem as his neighbours or not.
“I was a bit different because it was a steer; the other people are losing weaners,” he said.
But he was concerned because most of the affected properties followed the same watercourse.
A third grazier told us he had lost four heifers. Three mature cows were also affected with foot rot at the same time.
He said the two problems could be connected as they had all been watered in the same gully, or they could be completely different issues.
As a precaution, the animals are being kept away from the gully area.
His wife told us the heifers had been “beautiful and perfectly healthy”.
“They were only a few weeks off being sold when they suddenly died,” she said.
All the graziers said suggested causes had been put to them – and then apparently ruled out. These included blackleg, liver fluke, polio, pneumonia, nitrate poisoning or an unknown bacterial infection.
They feared there could be some problem with the water but a few also noted the deaths had started on properties downstream and then had worked their way upstream, which appeared to rule this out.
Many of the graziers have now vaccinated their animals against blackleg in case this was the cause.
“If anyone in the area has concerns about their cattle, they should contact their local veterinarian who can then work with Biosecurity Queensland officers,” the Biosecurity Queensland spokesman in Brisbane said.
Biosecurity Queensland staff based in Kingaroy could not comment on the investigation.
