Virus at Puyallup Fair kills about 20 cows

Virus at Puyallup Fair kills about 20 cows

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Story Published: Dec 4, 2008 at 11:35 PM PDT

Story Updated: Dec 4, 2008 at 11:35 PM PDT

By Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) - A virus that spread at the Puyallup Fair in September has left about 20 cows dead, prompting an investigation by state officials.

The Herald of Everett reports that there's no risk of the virus spreading to humans or entering the food chain. Most of the affected cows came from Future Farmers of America clubs, state officials said.

Veterinarians believe lambs sharing the same barn as the cows spread the virus - ovine herpesvirus 2 - which causes malignant catarrhal fever. Cattle are not able to spread the virus among each other. The disease can take as long as 20 months to develop.

State veterinarian Dr. Leonard Eldridge said the virus is in lambs' nasal secretions, and can be spread by the air they breathe. Eldridge said the barn's ventilation system may have spread the virus.

Eldridge said it's unusual for such a large number of cattle to die from the disease: On average, one out of 100 cows exposed to the virus will develop the disease.

About a quarter of the cows housed in the barn in September have died.

"There is a much higher fatality rate in this case. The virus is not supposed to be this tough on cattle," Eldridge said. "We're trying to find out why and what we can do to prevent this in the future."

Most of the cows were entered in FFA or open-class competitions. One of the owners was 15-year-old Toria Morcom of Arlington. She can't talk about her dead steer and heifer without crying.

"Every child in 4-H or FFA puts time, money, energy and love into their animals," said Mary Morcom, Toria's mother.

Mary Morcom said her daughters care for their cattle as pets, and were planning to sell some of them to raise money for college. The family showed nine cattle from their 25-head herd of red Angus at the Puyallup fair. Three died from the disease.

Mary Morcom said she thinks the state acted slowly to notify people who had participated in the fair about the disease.

"We need the state to have a sense of urgency about this investigation. These are tough economic times and we don't have bottomless pockets," she said.

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Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldnet.com

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