Some other diseases Bos taurus experience are East Coast Fever (ECF) which is an acute, tick-borne disease causing high rates of morbidity and mortality in cattle, and Anaplasmosis which is a vector-borne, infectious blood disease.
To put it in perspective for a friend, see how high you can count during that time. Believe it or not, there actually have been people who have held their breath for even longer than 11 minutes, though. The Guinness Book of World Records has a special category for holding your breath underwater.
My rule of thumb is if you hear something about SEAL training from someone who has NEVER been a SEAL, then chances are it is wrong. Here is a list of some serious misinformation about SEAL Training: RUMOR CONTROL - You have to learn to how to hold your breath for 4-5 minutes at BUDS. FALSE. NO - you do not have to hold your breath for long periods of time. During the 50m swim, if you can learn how to swim efficiently, you will find that your breath hold time is under a minute for that distance. Even the drown-proofing, underwater knot tying, and Pool Competency in 2nd phase is limited to maybe one minute of holding your breath. The key is relaxing when underwater when performing work / tasks. There is not need to try to hold your breath for long periods of time.