A ProMED-mail post
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Date: 16 Jul 2012 Source: Animal-health-online [edited] http://www.animal-health-online.de/gross/ There have now been 10 dead cows and the remaining animals have been moved into a different field, and have been treated with long acting antibiotics. Since yesterday no animal has died so the authorities are hoping there won't be more fatalities. A group of experts is due to investigate the herd and the location to get a clue about the source of infection. The national reference laboratory (Friedrich-Loffler-Institut (FLI) in Jena) made the final diagnosis. http://www.cvlonghorns.de [To better appreciate where this outbreak is, I recommend that members check on the OIE site which has an excellent map. See: http://web.oie.int/wahis/public.php?page=single_report&pop=1&reportid=12121. One of the initial press reports had some 50 people receiving "antibiotics," which is an extraordinary number under any circumstances. The reason for this was not given and for most farm outbreaks, even involving as many animals as this, it is unusual to issue antibiotics unless there had been on-farm butchering. It would be appreciated if an informed German member could share why this took place. - Mod.MHJ]
