Animals develop a fever and may pass bloody urine. The clinical course is generally 1 - 7 days. Most animals die within 3 days of developing clinical signs. There are generally no lesions in the fetus or placenta. It is assumed that abortion is a result of illness in the dam, rather than infection of the fetus.
Dams die shortly after they abort.
There is no effective treatment for MCF in bison or cattle. There are scattered reports in the scientific literature of animals recovering from MCF following medical treatment. In our experience treatment merely prolongs the clinical course without effecting a cure. No comparable studies have been done on bison to date. Testing sick animals is the key to establishing an accurate diagnosis.