TY - JOUR

T1 - Cryptosporidium outbreak in calves on a large dairy farm

T2 - Effect of treatment and the association with the inflammatory response and short-term weight gain

AU - Niine, Tarmo

AU - Dorbek-Kolin, Elisabeth

AU - Lassen, Brian

AU - Orro, Toomas

PY - 2018/4

Y1 - 2018/4

N2 - Cryptosporidium spp. infections in neonatal dairy calves can cause diarrhoea and, in rare cases, death. The infection is usually self-limiting, but halofuginone lactate (HL) can be used prophylactically. Calves (n = 144) in the study were born during a 2-month period on one farm. A total of 901 serum and 767 faecal samples were collected. Based on HL treatment, the calves were divided into 3 groups: I) not treated, II) treated incorrectly (treatment started > 48 h after birth, or lasted < 7 days), and III) treated correctly (started < 48 h after birth, and lasted ≥ 7 days). Over the 3-month observation period, 14.6% (n = 21) of the calves died, of which most (67%) had not been treated with HL. Correctly performed treatment of cryptosporidiosis significantly delayed the onset of oocysts shedding (P < 0.001) and reduced haptoglobin (HP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations in the second week of life. HP concentration and HL treatment were negatively associated with weight gain at 3 months of age. Cryptosporidium positive faecal samples were significantly (P < 0.001) more likely to be diarrhoeic but Giardia or Eimeria positive samples were not. Correct prophylactic treatment with HL delayed the shedding of Cryptosporidium oocysts and improved survival, but was negatively associated with weight gain. Incorrect treatment had a low impact on mortality and resembled no treatment regarding the proportion of calves shedding oocysts. Acute phase response (APR) in the second week of life seemed to be positively associated with shedding high amounts of Cryptosporidium oocysts.

AB - Cryptosporidium spp. infections in neonatal dairy calves can cause diarrhoea and, in rare cases, death. The infection is usually self-limiting, but halofuginone lactate (HL) can be used prophylactically. Calves (n = 144) in the study were born during a 2-month period on one farm. A total of 901 serum and 767 faecal samples were collected. Based on HL treatment, the calves were divided into 3 groups: I) not treated, II) treated incorrectly (treatment started > 48 h after birth, or lasted < 7 days), and III) treated correctly (started < 48 h after birth, and lasted ≥ 7 days). Over the 3-month observation period, 14.6% (n = 21) of the calves died, of which most (67%) had not been treated with HL. Correctly performed treatment of cryptosporidiosis significantly delayed the onset of oocysts shedding (P < 0.001) and reduced haptoglobin (HP) and serum amyloid A (SAA) concentrations in the second week of life. HP concentration and HL treatment were negatively associated with weight gain at 3 months of age. Cryptosporidium positive faecal samples were significantly (P < 0.001) more likely to be diarrhoeic but Giardia or Eimeria positive samples were not. Correct prophylactic treatment with HL delayed the shedding of Cryptosporidium oocysts and improved survival, but was negatively associated with weight gain. Incorrect treatment had a low impact on mortality and resembled no treatment regarding the proportion of calves shedding oocysts. Acute phase response (APR) in the second week of life seemed to be positively associated with shedding high amounts of Cryptosporidium oocysts.

KW - Antiparasitic treatment

KW - Calf morbidity

KW - Gastrointestinal disorder

KW - Innate immunity response

KW - Neonatal

U2 - 10.1016/j.rvsc.2017.12.015

DO - 10.1016/j.rvsc.2017.12.015

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29304439

AN - SCOPUS:85039872279

VL - 117

SP - 200

EP - 208

JO - Research in Veterinary Science

JF - Research in Veterinary Science

SN - 0034-5288

ER -