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This article was published in 1954
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INSTITUTE OF INSPECTORS OF STOCK OF N.S.W. YEAR BOOK.
Warts On Cattle
H. E. R. BEATTIE, B.V.Sc., H.D.A. Veterinary Research Officer, Glenfield.
Wart infestation (Verruca vulgaris) is comparatively common in various species, and especially in young animals. The condition often is referred to as Infectious Papillomatosis, though this term is considered by some authorities to be unsatisfactory.
It appears that a filterable agent is always involved, but whether there is a specific virus for each host species has not been established. At Glenfield we have reproduced the condition in calves by the use both of filtered and unfiltered wart material of bovine origin, but we have not used such material on other species.
The warts of calfhood, which are mostly around the head and neck, tend to disappear spontaneously with increasing age: and in only a small proportion of cases do they present a serious problem. Nevertheless, it is wise to keep in mind their infectious nature and to act accordingly. This holds also for adults, in which the udder is a common site. Cows so affected should be milked last, and particular care is called for in washing and disinfecting the hands after milking. It is desirable, also, to remove affected animals from the herd wherever practicable; and to disinfect any pens, posts,etc., which may serve as sources of infection for other cattle.
Within a herd several animals may be found showing warts in nostrils, suggesting that the infection may have been carried by human hands, or by "bull dogs" used in restraint. Similarly a series of jugular furrow cases, or of warts in the ears, may point respectively to a bleeding needle or a tattooing instrument as a means of spread.
It is not surprising that the udder is the most common site in dairy cows. Warts here may cause the affected animal considerable discomfort during milking, and so interfere with this process. Elsewhere on the body even a mild growth well might reduce appreciably the value of the hide. More severe cases are unsightly and could reduce greatly the value of the animal; especially of stud cattle. In young animals the growth may be retarded.
TREATMENT :
Various lines of treatment have been undertaken; but in any case it is obvious that "results" must be assessed with great caution, because of the high natural recovery rate.
Small warts may be snipped off with clean scissors and the wounds then treated, for example, with iodine, glacial acetic acid, silver nitrate, sulphanilamide powder,etc. If using glacial acetic, care should be taken to smear the surrounding skin with vaseline, lard,etc., to prevent burning of healthy tissue.
Pedunculated warts of small or even quite appreciable size may be tied off. Where the number, nature and/or situation of the warts makes any of these procedures impracticable, vaccination, local injections, external applications or medicinal treatment may be attempted.
Vaccines, usually autogenous, are stated to have given promising results in some places. A batch prepared at Glenfield and tried in an outbreak at the Grafton Experiment Farm in 1950 did not seem to be very beneficial; though with an untreated control group the "results" would have appeared good. Possibly a second injection would have altered the picture.
It has been suggested that injuries causing bleeding of the warts may play a part in "self-cure", through an effect comparable with vaccination. This introduces, of course, another factor which may affect the apparent success of any treatment; that is the actual damage to the warts caused merely by the the handling of the animal to carry out the particular treatment. The writer once removed one of several small warts from a calf and after slicing and squeezing the material, rubbed it over the skin wound. The owner reported subsequently that the warts had disappeared from his calf within two months; and from an "untreated" animal running with the first, about a month later. Little significance can be attached to the "experiment"; though it does induce an interesting line of thought.
A personal communication from Abey Bandaranayake of Ceylon indicates that a proprietary bismuth preparation marketed as "Bisantol" (Bismuth salicylate) has been used by some Indian veterinarians in the treatment of warts in cattle. An injection of 5 ml. is given intramuscularly, and repeated if necessary after one (1) week. Such trials as we have been able to carry out here to date have been inconclusive. Degeneration of a large, cauliflower-like wart mass over one eye of a heifer, and of numerous smaller nodules, appeared to proceed more rapidly following the administration of Bisantol; but two injections of an autogenous vaccine had been given previously. One cannot be certain, of course, that the recovery was due to, or even hastened by, either treatment. In another instance the warts disappeared from a pair of young twin heifer calves within a few weeks after the treatment of one. Shortly after the second injection the principal lesions-three contiguous 1" warts on the neck-were seen to have been knocked off the untreated call. Further, each twin had shown a pea-sized wart under a tattoo in the ear. Thus the tattooing of both, or the injury to one, might be suspected of having hastened the recovery.
An opportunity to give Bisantol a trial was lost by the Inspector of Stock at Young when the owner sold the calves concerned. This owner reported, however, that the majority of the warts had disappeared following the treatment with Bordeaux mixture. This had been mentioned as a suitable treatment for ringworm which, from the owner's description had been suspected originally as being the condition to be treated. The diagnosis had been corrected to wart infestation following the subsequent submission of specimens, but in the meantime the owner had prepared a double-strength instead of half-strength Bordeaux mixture and sprayed the calves daily for a week. Finding this irritant to the animals, the number of treatments had been reduced to three during the second week. It was stated that particular attention had been given to one large wart, and that it had fallen off two weeks after completion of the treatment described.
"Anthiomaline" (Lithium antimony thiomalate), which is used in the tropics for the treatment of nasal granuloma, is stated to have been found useful against ordinary warts. Sumner (1951) claims that Anthiomaline was successful in a severe case of papillomata. Five (5) injections, each of 5 ml., were given intramuscularly at 48 hours intervals. Seven days after the last injection, daily squeezing out of the warts was commenced, the number so removed each day being governed by the amount of bleeding. All wounds created were dusted with sulphanilamide. After 5 weeks all warts had been removed manually; with the exception of a few, shallow and broad-based, around the nose.
Where warts are very numerous, some authorities recommend internal treatment; for example, with Arsenic. One tablespoon of Fowler's solution twice daily is recommended for cattle 6-12 months old. Don't treat milking Cows; Arsenic may be excreted in the milk.
Reference:
Sumner (1951). Vet. Rec., 63 : 722.
SUBSEQUENT NOTES
A. During the discussion which followed the foregoing talk during Conference, 1953, Inspector McCulloch, of Holbrook, referred to wart-like lesions covering large areas of the bodies of calves on a property in his District, and apparently contributing to the death of some.
Specimens submitted and examined at Glenfield the following day showed the condition to be mycotic dermatitis. The presence of Actinomyces dermatonomus was demonstrated. Both cattle and sheep are run on the property.
Some of the lesions submitted bore a superficial resemblance to warts and were comparable in size and shape with the small horns of calves a few months old. They were, however, of a relatively crumbly consistency, and a considerable quantity of hair was incorporated in cach. They were brownish in colour, smooth on the external surface; often conical and hollow.
1.6 oz. each of liquid "Rusept" and "Sulfadip" powder for mixing with 10 gallons of water for dipping or spraying were forwarded to the Inspector for trial in treatment.
B. References conducted since the Inspectors visit to Glenfield in 1953 indicated that Bisantol has been used in the treatment of cutaneous warts of calves, udder and teat warts of cows and persistent buccal warts of canines in England and elsewhere, as well as in India and Ceylon.
Menon, 1951 (Vet. Rec., 63:49) reports very favourably on the use of Anthiomaline for mouth warts in dogs. He uses 4 to 6 intramuscular injections, on alternate days; increasing the dose from 1 ml. to 24 ml. in 5 ml. stages. He adds that the product is effective also against warts in bovines, "but in doses not yet standardised". He mentions 5 x 20 ml. injections in a week for a cow with a warty udder, and 5 ml. doses at intervals of two days for skin warts in a calf.
Hogg. 1951 (Vet. Rec. 63:56) states that he has never used bismuth salicylate (Bisantol, M. & B.) but has tried another bismuth and several arsenical preparations for stubborn buccal warts in dogs, and has found Sodium bismuth tartrate ("S.B.T." Hewlett & Son) very satisfactory. He uses 1 x 1 ml. dose per week intramuscularly for up to 3 or 4 weeks. He compares his results with those published by R. Watson in 1953 regarding Bismuth salicylate, where the average number of injections required per case was 4 to 6. (S.B.T. is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in humans).