Farm Animals That Survived Flooding Now Fight Disease

Many farm animals managed to survive Floyd's flood waters and erratic feeding. Now, they face another problem. They are threatened by disease.

Veterinarians are visiting livestock operations to treat flood-related illness.

Cindy Burnett is a veterinarian in Pender County helping a cattle farmer near Burgaw.

"We've had a lot of problems with pneumonia, where they either inhaled or ingested water. If you had seen them a few days ago, you'd notice that they are losing weight because of the infections that they have," Burnett said.

Many vets are volunteers with the Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT).

And a lot of the medicine used to treat the animals is donated through VMAT.

"We're getting what we need. VMAT has helped us, and the U.S. Humane Society has helped us out a lot," said Burnett.

Because most pasture land is still contaminated, farmers are depending on donated feed.

Some hay has come from as far away as Augusta, Ga.