Farm animals, like all living creatures, are vulnerable to a wide range of diseases that can threaten their health, productivity, and, ultimately, farm profitability.
From viral infections like foot and mouth disease in cattle to protozoan infections such as coccidiosis in poultry and rabbits, each species faces unique health challenges.
Understanding these diseases, their causes, symptoms, transmission, and prevention is essential for every livestock farmer, student, and agricultural educator.
This comprehensive guide explores the common diseases of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, and rabbits, alongside their causative agents, signs, prevention strategies, and treatment options.
Whether you’re raising livestock for commercial purposes or educational research, this resource is designed to equip you with accurate, practical knowledge that supports animal health and farm success.
The common diseases of farm animals include the following
Cattle
- Foot and mouth disease
- Rinder pest
- Anthrax
- Brucellosis or contagious bovine abortion
- Mastitis
- Tuberculosis
- Trypanosomiasis
- Heartwater disease
- Babesiosis or Tick-borne fever
- Kirchi (Cowpox or streptothricosis)
Sheep and Goats
- Blue tongue
- Kata (stomatitis or pseudorinderpest)
- Contagious ethyma or dermatitis
- Foot rot
Pigs (swine)
- Swine fever
- Swine erysipelas (Diamond skin disease)
- Contagious abortion of swine
- Transmissible gastroenteritis (TGE)
- Roundworm infection (Nemathelminthes)
Rabbits
- Sore hock
- Mange
- Bloat
- Coccidiosis
Poultry
- Newcastle disease
- Fowl pox
- Fowl typhoid
- Coccidiosis
- Chronic respiratory disease (CRD)
A table showing common diseases of farm animals
| Name of disease | Causal organism (agent) | Animal affected | Symptoms | Mode of transmission | Body area affected | Effects | Treatments | Prevention on and control measures |
| Foot and mouth | Virus | Cattle | i. High fever
ii. Loss of appetite iii. Blisters or sores on the muzzle (lips), tongue, cheek, udder and feet iv. Weakness and lameness v. Excessive salivation and foaming | By contact with infected animals, contaminated feed. | Legs | Serious loss of animals (death) | No effective treatment | i. Vaccination to prevent the disease
ii. Isolation of diseased animals iii. Slaughter and bury infected animals |
| Rinderpest or cattle plague | Virus | Cattle can also affect sheep, goat and pigs | i. High fever (rise in temperature
ii. Loss of appetite iii. Blood stained diarrhea iv. Difficulty in breathing v. Grinding | i. Eating contaminated food.
ii. Contact with infected animals | Entire body | High rate of animals | No treatment | i. Vaccination to prevent the disease
ii. Isolation of infected animals iii. Quarantine iv. Kill and bury diseased animals |
| Name of disease | Causal organism (agent) | Animal affected | Symptoms | Mode of transmission | Body area affected | Effects | Treatments | Prevention on and control measures |
| Anthrax | Bacteria | Ruminants (cattle, sheep and goat) | i. High fever
ii. Convulsion iii. Increased breathing rate iv. Black or blood stained discharge from mouth, eyes, nostrils etc. v. Sudden death vi. Welling out of neck, abdomen after death | Contact with infected animals and their products | Whole body | Sudden death of animals (sometimes without symptoms | If symptoms are noticed early, treat with antibiotics. | i. Vaccination
ii. Isolation and slaughter of diseased animals should be burnt and buried.
|
| Brucellosis (contagious bovide abortion | Bacteria | Cattle pigs | i. Inflammation of uterus and mammary glands
ii. Abortion or pregnancy at 5th – 7th month as still birth iii. Retention of after birth | i. Direct contact with:
– Infected after birth – Foetal fluid or aborted fetuses – Coition with infected bull. – Contaminated feed or pasture | Foetus (pregnancy) | i. Loss of foetus
ii. Low rate of production iii. It is zoonotic (i.e. it can affect human beings). | No effective treatment | i. Vaccination
ii. Report any occurrent to veterinary doctor |
| Trypano somiasis (nagana) | Protozoa (trypanosoms) | Cattle | i. Severe anaemia
ii. Intermittent fever iii. General weakness iv. Hairs on tail often pull-out v. Staggering vi. Death | By tse-tse fly | The brain | i. Drop in the level of production
ii. Death of animals | Use drugs such as Babesin, Bayer 2005 etc. | i. Use insecticide to kill vectors (tse-tse fly)
ii. Good sanitation such as cleaning and burning of bush. |
| Bloat | Nutritional disorder | Ruminants (cattle, goat, sheep and rabbit) | i. Diarrhea
ii. Prof use salivation iii. Swollen stomach iv. Vomiting v. Difficulty in breath vi. Death | Feeding on immature pasture | Stomach | Swollen stomach and digestive tract | i. Use defoaming agents such as groundnut
ii. Pass a large tube into stomach to remove obstacle causing obstruct | i. Do not graze animals on immature pasture
ii. Feed high protein supplements or feeds. |
| Name of disease | Causal organism (agent) | Animal affected | Symptoms | Mode of transmission | Body area affected | Effects | Treatments | Prevention on and control measures |
| Mastitis | Bacteria | Ruminants may affect pigs | i. Swollen under
ii. High temperature iii. Discharge of pus from the udder iv. Yellowish smelling milk | Through injury especially on the teat | Udder | Drop in milk yield | Injection of antibiotics
Massaging the mammary gland after injection | i. Good sanitation
ii. Clean milking practice to avoided injury iii. Keeping the udder dry
|
| Krchi (cowpox or streptothricosis | Bacteria | Ruminatns and igs | i. High lesion
ii. Irritation iii. Loss of hair iv. Swollen udder | – Direct contact with infected animals | Skin | i. Poor production of hair and milk | Treatment of wounds with tetracy cline capsules | i. Regular bathing
ii. Disinfect and feeding and milking equipment iii. Vaccination on slaughter and bury infected animals |
| Swine fever | Virus | Pigs | i. High temperature
ii. Lost of appetite iii. Diarrohoea iv. Bluish discoloration at the ears, legs and snouth | Contact with infected pig | Whole body | Death of animals | No successful treatment, no available vaccine | |
| New castle disease (fowl plague) | Virus | Poulty | i. Sudden death without symptoms
ii. Breathing difficulty iii. Loss of weight iv. Watery greenish diarrhea v. Diarrhea vi. Circling movement | i. Air borne spread
ii. Contaminated vaccine and equipement iii. Infected birds | i. Nervous system
ii. Respiratory tract | Loss of poultry birds | No effective treatment | i. Quarantine
ii. Vaccination iii. Sanitation
|
| Name of disease | Causal organism (agent) | Animal affected | Symptoms | Mode of transmission | Body area affected | Effects | Treatments | Prevention on and control measures |
| Fowl pox | Virus | Poultry | i. Blisters on comble, wattle and feed
ii. Loss of weight iii. Reduced egg production | Bitting insects | Comb | Light weight poultry birds
Low e.g. production | Use of antibiotics | i. Vaccination on and sanitation
ii. Culling of diseased birds
|
| Coccidiosis | Protozoa | Poultry, rabbits | i. Blood stained dropping or feaces
ii. Loss of weight iii. Diarrhoea iv. Ruffle feathers | Feeding of infected feed, water and infected feaces | Digest ice tract | i. Reduced egg production
ii. Death of animal | Use of sulphur drugs | i. Good sanitation
ii. Use of coccidiotic tablets iii. Disinfect poultry houses before stocking |
| Chronic respiratory disorder (CRD) | Myuco plasma (virus like microbe) | Poultry
| i. Nasal discharge
ii. Swollen face iii. Breathing difficultry iv. Loss of weight | Breathing in of virus from contaminated feed, water or urine and | Air sac | i. Loss of birds | Use of antibiotics | i. Sanitation
ii. Good ventilation iii. Avoid use of dust litter |
| Mange | Lice | Rabbit | Loss o hair | i. Skin | Dusting with chemical | i. Dust with powder
ii. Good sanitation
|
See also:
FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE DECIDING ON ANIMAL FEED
FARM STRUCTURES | MEANING. TYPES, MAINTENANCE & FARM SHELTER