Testing sick animals is the key to establishing an accurate diagnosis. A. Confirm the suspicion of MCF by laboratory tests on sick or dead animals. The best one to use for diagnosing active disease is the PCR test. Both the PCR test and a newly developed serological test can be run on one purple-top blood sample. A. Animals older than 6 months, particularly if stressed by bad weather, transportation and handling.
Large outbreaks occur in feedlots, where stress due to crowding is likely.
Losses due to MCF can however occur at any time of the year. A. Little information has been collected to answer this question. We have seen outbreaks continue for 16 months in range herds. In feedlots the problem can be a continuing yearly source of losses. This is a minimal figure.