Neonatal calf diarrhea Flashcards
leading causes of mortality in dairy calves? despite what? what about beef?
Undifferentiated calf diarrhea remains the leading cause of mortality in dairy calves, followed by pneumonia
§ Despite increased awareness with regards to importance of:
§ Colostrum / passive transfer
§ Vaccinations ( ETEC; Rota, Corona)
§ Also an important cause of morbidity and mortality in beef calves
can we often get a clear etiologic diagnosis for calf diarrhea? why?
It is often impossible to establish a clear etiologic diagnosis, since often several organisms as well as management are involved in this disease complex
THE BIG 6 CAUSES OF DIARRHEA Calves <21 days of age
- Enterotoxigenic E. coli – F5/K99 fimbria (<4 days)
- Rotavirus (4-21 days)
- Coronavirus (4-21 days)
- Cryptosporidium parvum (5-28 days)
- Salmonella enterica (serotypes Dublin, Typhimurium)
- Nutritional
ETEC type of diarrhea, zoonotic?
type: secretory
not zoonotic
rotavirus type of diarrhea, zoonotic?
type: villous atrophy + secretory
* Potential for 2nd transient lactose intolerance
not zoonotic
coronavirus type of diarrhea, zoonotic?
type: villous and crypt atrophy + secretory
* Potential for 2nd transient lactose intolerance
not zoonotic
cryptosporidium parvum type of diarrhea, zoonotic?
type: villous atrophy + secretory
* Potential for 2nd transient lactose intolerance
zoonotic!!
salmonella spp. type of diarrhea, zoonotic?
type: mucosal damage
zoonotic!!
nutritional diarrhea type
bacterial overgrowth
ETEC diagnostic confirmation method
bacterial culture and slide agglutination +/- ETEC PCR
rotavirus diagnostic confirmation method
latex agglutination - rotavirus group A
PCR
ELISA
coronavirus diagnostic confirmation method
Ag-detection ELISA - bovine coronavirus
cryptosporidium parvum diagnostic confirmatino method
sucrose wet mount
salmonella diagnostic confirmation method
bacterial culture (or ELISA, PCR)
nutritional diarrhea diagnostic confirmation method
response to lactase
purpose of identifying cause of calf diarrhea
Identifying cause is not critical for treatment, but helps with managing control/prevention !
ETEC prevention:
” F5 (K99) vaccine to dry cows
“ F5 (K99) oral vaccine during outbreaks
Metabolic changes resulting from diarrhea
Net losses of
* Water
* Sodium
* Potassium
* Chloride
* Bicarbonate
Production D/L-lactate
- Dehydration
- Electrolyte abnormalities
- Strong ion and/or D/L-lactate acidosis
- Negative energy balance, hypoglycemia and hypoproteinemia
- Inflammatory changes of GIT
CLINICAL SIGNS of calf diarrhea
- Watery diarrhea, usually yellow
> fever, dysentery, abdominal pain, & tenesmus - Dehydration, weakness
- Loss of suckle
- Depression (metabolic acidosis, sepsis)
- Secondary signs (e.g. related to hyperkalemia, hypoglycemia…)
- Look for other body system involvement (lungs, umbilicus, joints, eyes)
- Death
DEHYDRATION from diarrhea, cause:
increased fluid + elyte loss in stool
decreased ̄fluid intake
result of calf dehydration
̄ reduced plasma volume
̄ reduced extracellular fluid volume
> reduced venous return
> reduced cardiac output and peripheral perfusion
= HYPOVOLEMIC SHOCK
Estimation of Clinical dehydration:
The best predictors of degree of dehydration (model of acute diarrhea) were extent of eyeball recession into orbit, skin pliability on neck and thorax, and plasma protein concentration.
Estimation of Clinical dehydration summary table: for <5, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12% dehydration
<5%: normal demeanor
6-8%: slightly depressed
8-10%: depressed
10-12%: comatose
> eyeball recession and skin tesnt duration increase up to 6-8mm and 5-10s respectively
In calves with cachexia or chronic diarrhea, best way to estimate dehydration
- In calves with cachexia or chronic diarrhea, skin pliability in the neck region would be the most reliable indicator of hydration status
