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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1988)
Thursday, August 11,1988AThe Battalion/Page 3 State and Local dentists complete initial test of vaccine By Kimberly Green Reporter I Scientists in Texas A&M’s College of Vet erinary Medicine have completed initial test- |g of a new vaccine that promises to protect Ittle from brucellosis, a virus that causes a $14 million annual production loss in Texas. JThe infection causes spontanious abor tions, calf deaths, calves with low birth Weights and reduced milk production, n Currently, cattlemen are having to rely on le USDA Strain 19 vaccine to try and pre- rly upKnt outbreaks of the disease in their herds, drear » his P art ‘ cu l ar vaccine is the cause of much ,i frustration in the effort to control and erad- ite brucellosis because it can produce anti dies that lead to false-positive tests. Brucellosis, also known as Bang’s disease, is ontagious disease of livestock caused by the Bacteria Brucella and no sure way exists to de- ct infected cattle by their appearance. The disease is spread when cattle eat the acentas of calves after they are born, an ac- Ibn common among cows that are protective l oi their herds’ young, said Dr. Garry Adams, J e Wterinary pathologist with the Texas Agri- " ore '|cultural Experiment Station. lew noil Undulant fever, or human brucellosis, has lUttjn §: en *' n * cec ^ to l ^ e bacterium through contact hen I th an infected cow or by the consumption ; * of unpasteurized milk or milk products from ncc infected cattle. COlorii I Texas has almost one-third of the known “ hum Brucella-infected herds in the United States. •Ct tin ■ Brucellosis costs the United States $168 imier wihi° n annually in estimated production (1 to 111 losses, herd quarantines and regulatory pro gram costs. As a consequence of the false results pro duced by Strain 19, a herd may be quaran tined and movement of cattle in and out of that herd is restricted. Exposed cattle must be kept under quaran tine until they have passed two consecutive negative tests over a period of at least 120 days, but can be sold to slaughter or to an ap proved quarantined feedlot or quarantined pasture on permit. Brucellosis tests are mandatory at livestock auction barns and positive test results often lower the value of animals for sale. Recent surveys indicate that because of the threat of brucellosis, more than 17.7 million cattle were blood tested and 8.8 million were vaccinated against brucellosis in the United States. Although the number of vaccinated ani mals has increased in recent years, a large population of unvaccinated animals still exist. Many Central Texas counties have high brucellosis infection rates. As of January only three counties near Waco — Bosque, Coryell and Mills counties — had no quarantined herds, said Clark Bolt of the Texas Animal Health Commission in Austin. Both Limestone and Robertson counties had 15 quarantined herds each and Freestone County had 13 quarantined herds. Navarro County had 11 such herds and Milam County had 10. Other counties and their quarantined herd numbers are Leon with eight, Falls with five, Bell and Hill with four, McLennan with three and Hamilton and Lampasas with one each. Only 1,012 herds across the state, or 0.71 percent of all 145,000 herds, are quarantined, Bolt said. The infected herd numbers have dropped 40 percent during the past five years. The Texas Animal Health Commisssion is conducting an intensified search for brucello sis infection in 14 highly contaminated coun ties along the Gulf Coast, Bolt said. Jackson County is one of the counties with the highest rate of infections with 41 quaran tined herds. Adams, head of the nine-member Texas Agricultural Experiment Station research team that developed the new vaccine, said the results of laboratory tests in cattle that began two years ago are “preliminary but quite promising.” The new vaccine does not have a name, but is composed of dead Brucella abortus, a mu tation of the brucellosis virus, Adams said. Initial tests on 174 University-owned cattle still leave some aspects of the vaccine’s perfor mance unclear. The scientists aren’t sure yet how long protection lasts and it may provide a lower rate of protection than the Strain 19 vaccine. The new vaccine’s advantages over Strain 19 are a longer shelf life, availability to male as well as female cattle, no potential infection risk for humans, availability to any aged ani mal over 5 months old and a potential for ranchers to inject it as well as veterinarians. The scientists on the research team hope the new vaccine’s advantages will encourage more ranchers to use it. Only 48 percent of all heifers in the state currently receive the Strain 19 vaccine, Adams said. About 70 percent of the cattle population needs to be vaccinated to have a significant impact against brucellosis, he said. Adams said full-scale production of the vaccine is still some time away and field use won’t begin until evaluation by the USDA has been completed. The research group has ap plied for a patent and is negotiating with pharmaceutical companies for further devel opment. No vaccine is 100 percent effective in pre venting infection, but research indicated that 65 to 70 percent of the animals vaccinated with Strain 19 have adequate immunity against the organisms causing the disease. Field experience indicates that in the fully vaccinated herd immunity may exceed 90 percent. Vaccination is just one tool for eradicating and controlling brucellosis. Additional prac tices include: • Knowledge of the brucellosis status of any cattle purchased. • Isolate and test cattle before placing them with present herd. • Keep fences in good repair. • Avoid the use of community pastures. • Test all animals that abort or are slow breeders. • Follow good sanitation practices. • Consult regularly with local veterinarian on herd health plans. Adams stressed that Strain 19, the new vac cine or any vaccine is not the cure by itself. “One prevention measure by itself rarely will solve the problem,” Adams said. “It will take the use of all of those tools to have the best individual program for the rancher.” Prosecutors present case of mercy killing DALLAS (AP) — Prosecutors on Wednesday were presenting to a Dallas County grand jury the case of an 87-year-old man who told police he fatally shot his wife in her hospi tal room after she begged him to end her suffering. Walter Jose Cottrell was charged with murder in the July 5 death of 89-year-old Frances Cottrell. Cottrell’s case was on Wednes day’s grand jury docket, Patricia Harding with the Dallas County Dis trict Attorney’s office said. Mrs. Cottrell died in her bed in the Laboure Care Center of the St. Paul Medical Center complex, where she had been since surgery on May 20. A subsequent stroke left her par tially paralyzed. The woman “had been in severe pain for quite some time . . . and had been begging (her husband) to kill her, because her condition was get ting worse and worse,” a police re port said. Armed with an antique .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, Cottrell had walked into his wife’s hospital room, put the weapon on the left side of her head and Tired one shot, said police. onvicted killer denies UT student slaying HUNTSVILLE (AP) — A con- jficted killer who was scheduled to loretfidie next week for the 1983 abduc tion-slaying of a University of Texas coed insisted Wednesday he was not sponsible for the killing and ould not be executed. “I’m not a troublemaking-type rson,” Tommy Jackson, 31, said ednesday. “Things have hap- ned in my life that were out of my ntrol. I’ve been a victim of circum- lances.” Jackson faced an Aug. 19 execu- an for the shooting death of Rosa- bd Robison, 24, of Terre Haute, Ind. Robison, an engineering stu dent at the University of Texas, was found in a Williamston County gravel pile more than a month after she disappeared. She had been shot once in the head. Jackson was arrested driving her car. A co-defendant, James Otis C- lary, received a life sentence stem ming from the woman’s slaying and testified against Jackson. “Tm not going to say he com mitted it,” Jackson said of Clary. “Tm going to say I did not. He plea bargained and he got a life sen tence.” Jackson, who was on parole for burglary when he was arrested for the Robison killing, also served 31 months of a 10-year federal sentence for a 1977 bank robbery in Thorn- dale. On Tuesday, State District Judge John Carter in Georgetown granted Jackson a stay until at least Oct. 3 so newly appointed attorneys could prepare post-conviction appeals mo tions, attorney Hugh Lowe said. Jackson, however, was not aware of the stay when interviewed Wednesday on death row. Jackson said he knew the victim socially and ran into her the night she disappeared when she was at an automated bank teller machine in Austin. He said the woman had loaned him her car. The Texas Department of Cor rections account of Jackson’s trial, however, indicates Robison was ab ducted from the university campus and was taken to the bank, where she was forced to withdraw money from the machine. Then she was taken to a rural area and fatally shot. Best Rets EASTGATE LIVE: Thursday: Texas Twisters. Cover Friday: The Judys. Local open ers The Change. Cover Saturday: The Kerouacs. Cover Wednesday: Lippman Jam. Open stage. No cover. BRAZOS LANDING: Friday: Quizumba: Brazilian rock. Cover $4. Saturday: About 9 Times. Cover $3. COW HOP EXPANSION: Thursday: Pat Foster. No cover. Friday: Texas Twisters. Cover $2. Saturday: Sneaky Pete and the Neon Madmen. Cover $3. Wednesday: Sneaky Pete. Cover. HALL OF FAME: Friday: Johnny Lyon and the Texas New Notes. Cover $4. MESSINA HOF WINE CEL LARS AND VINEYARDS: Tour the Messina Hof winery and get a cool break from the heat of the summer. The tours are free. 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