Bovine Diarrhea Flashcards
Diseases causing diarrhea in adult bovines, according to severity:
Diseases causing diarrhea in adult bovines, according to causative agents:
What are 2 common bacterial causes of diarrhea in cattle? What signs are associated?
- Salmonella - stress-induced, acute diarrhea, fever, dysentery, high mortality
- Mycobacterium paratuberculosis (Johne’s) - sporadic, chronic diarrhea with weight loss, long course, and no response to therapy
What are 3 common viral causes of diarrhea in cattle?
- Coronavirus (Winter Dysentery) - mature housed cattle, acute epizootic transient diarrhea and dysentery
- Rinderpest - plague form, erosive gastroenteritis and stomatitis, high morbidity and mortality
- MCF - erosive gastroenteritis, nasal/ocular d/c
What are the 4 most common parasites that cause diarrhea in younger calves on pasture? What signs are associated? How are they diagnosed?
- Ostertagia
- Haemonchus
- Trichostrongylus
- Oesophagostomum
acute/chronic diarrhea, dehydration, hypoproteinemia
fecal exam
What is a major fungal cause of diarrhea in cattle? What signs are associated?
Candida spp
younger cattle with chronic diarrhea with no response to treatment
What are 6 chemical causes of diarrhea in cattle? What signs are associated?
- arsenic
- copper
- mercury
- molybdenum
- poisonous plants
- nitrates
diarrhea, dysentery, colic, dehydration, toxemia, CNS signs
What nutritional deficiency is most commonly responsible for diarrhea in mature cattle? What causes it? What signs are associated?
copper
mature cattle on pasture with high levels of molybdenum
diarrhea, osteodystrophy, no systemic effects, hair color changes
What is the most common dietary cause of diarrhea in mature cattle? What causes it? What sign is associated?
simple indigestion caused by a change in ration (silage or grain) in feedlot cattle
subacute diarrhea, normal within 24 hours
How is small intestinal and large intestinal diarrhea differentiated? What indicates inflammatory or dietary etiologies?
- SI - watery, profuse
- LI - small volume, soft feces, excess mucus
blood, fibrinous casts
voluminous, soft, odoriferous
What is abdominal pain with diarrhea associates with in adults?
- Salmonellosis
- lead/arsenic poisoning
What is indicative of Johne’s disease?
chronic weight loss and diarrhea
What is indicative of copper deficiency as a cause of diarrhea? What causes it?
- moderate weight loss
- profuse diarrhea with normal hydration
- depigmentation of hair
diet high in molybdenum
What is a common sequelae of Salmonellosis diarrhea?
septicemia, toxemia, and fever
What are 4 blood analysis changes associated with diarrhea in mature bovines?
- hemoconcentration (elevated PCV)
- hypochlormia, hyponatremia, metabolic acidosis
- hyperkalemia
- increased BUN due to inadequate perfusion of kidney
When are parental and oral antibiotics recommended in cases of adult bovine diarrhea?
PARENTERAL - acute diarrhea, toxemia, fever
ORAL - subacute diarrhea with minimal systemic signs
What fluids are recommended for cattle with severe acidosis and diarrhea?
5% hypertonic bicarbonate give IV at 5-7 mL/kg at a speed of 100 mL/min
- severe dehydration = 100-150 mL/kg/day + KCl
What intestinal protectants are used in cases of diarrhea? What 3 effects do they have?
Kaolin and Pectin
- coat intestinal mucosa
- inhibit secretions
- increase bulk of feces
What 3 antidiarrheals are available for cattle? How do they work?
- Atropine
- Chlorpromazine
- prostaglandin inhibitors
antisecretories
What causes Johne’s disease? What are 4 characteristic signs?
Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis
- chronic fatal enteritis
- debilitating diarrhea
- progressive emaciatino
- thickening of intestinal mucosa
How is Johne’s disease transmitted?
fecal-oral
- feed/water contaminated by feces
- colostrum, milk, udder
- male and female reproductive tract
- calves commonly infected at birth and show signs ~ 2 y/o
What is the pathogenesis of Jonhe’s disease?
- organism penetrats ileum and colon, where it is phagoctyosed by macrophages
- organism multiples within macrophages until it kills the cell and is able to spread to other cells
- immune system recruits more macrophages and lymphocytes, resulting in cytokine release
- macrophages fuse together into granulomatous infection
- lymphocyte and macrophage infiltration causes visible thickening of the intestines, resulting in malabsorption –> lose body condition, milk production drops, diarrhea
(these cows are commonly anorexic despite good appetite)
What aged cattle commonly start showing clinical signs of Johne’s disease? What clinical signs are associated?
1-2 y/o
- weight loss, emaciation
- decreased milk production
- roughened hair coat
- thick diarrhea lacking blood
- intermandibular or ventral edema
- TPR normal
What is the characteristic postmortem lesion associated with Johne’s disease? What else may be seen?
thickened, corrugated wall of the distal small intestine
- dependent edema and fluid in body cavities
- discrete plaques
- enlarged mesenteric LNs
What are 4 options for diagnosing Johne’s?
- Johnin test - 0.2 mL PPD, SID
- isolation/identification –> slow growing, can take 5-14 weeks
- ELISA
- PCR
What stain is recommended for diagnostic Johne’s? What can be cultured?
Ziehl-Neelsen - clumps of small, strongly acid-fast bacilli
- feces
- thickened intestinal wall
- ileal, mesenteric, ileocecal LNs
What are 3 options for conventional vaccines for Johne’s?
- killed whole
- live whole attenuated
- modified whole cell killed and live
What are 3 disadvantages to conventional Johne’s disease vaccines?
- immune response induced by vaccines interfere with diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis
- antibody response interfere with ELISA
- have a minor effect in reduction of bacterial shedding
What liver fluke commonly infects cattle? What are 3 predisposing factors?
Fasciola spp
- low laying swampy area
- frequent floods
- stress - pregnancy, parturition