Managing Calf Scours - A Herd health approach

Transcription

1 Intas Polivet (2012) Vol. 13 (I): 8-14 Review Article Managing Calf Scours - A Herd health approach A. Kumaresan 1, S. S. Layek 2, T. K. Mohanty 3, T. Patbandha 4 and Shiv Prasad 5 Livestock Production and Management Section National Dairy Research Institute Karnal (Haryana) Abstract With the advent of rapid dairy development, obtaining healthy calf crop is of ardent need to obtain high returns from dairy animal production. Among different causes, calf scours has been depicted as most dreadful contributor in the neonatal morbidity and mortality. Calf scours is not a single disease entity, rather it is a clinical syndrome associated with several diseases characterized by diarrhoea. The scouring calves lose fluid, dehydrate and suffer from electrolyte imbalance and acidosis leading to death of the calves. Fluid therapy along with antimicrobial and probiotic administration is the most reliable treatment intervention in calf scours. Effective control of calf scours at herd level can be achieved through proper prepartum feeding management, removal of the cause of the disease from the environment of the newborn, removal of the newborn from the infectious environment, colostrum feeding and prepartum vaccination of the dam. Keywords: Calf scours; Neonatal diarrhea; Herd health Introduction In the present scenario of dairy development, healthy and disease free calves are considered as the worth possession of a dairy enterprise as they are the future herd stock (Kumaresan et al., 2009). The calf morbidity and mortality is a perennial problem throughout the world and the most susceptible period is the first few weeks after its birth. Among different causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity, calf scours or neonatal diarrhoea is the most predominant. Results of a study conducted on crossbred calves revealed that calf scours was the major condition (52.8%) affecting calves followed by joint ill (25.0%) and respiratory infections (19.4%) (Radostitis et al., 2000). Therefore it is necessary to put the management effort to prevent this detriment at high priority in order to obtain a healthy post-weaning calf crop. This paper delineates the causal-effect relation of the disease and practical management approach in its control. 1. Corresponding author and Senior Scientist ogkumaresan@rediffmail.com 2. Ph.D. Scholar 3. Senior Scientist 4. Post Graduate Scholar 5. Principal Scientist and Head I/C Calf Scours Calf Scours or Neonatal diarrhoea, is defined as a multi-factorial disease complex characterised by increased frequency, fluidity or volume of faecal excretion in calves caused by excessive osmotic pressure in the intestine, intestinal damage caused by several organisms leading to malabsorption, toxins produced by organisms or excessive contractions of the intestine (Lorenz, 2006). Most often it occurs in the first month of calf s life. When attacked by infectious agents, immature epithelial lining of the bowel is damaged and results in the loss of large amounts of body fluid into the gut leading to quick dehydration, electrolytes imbalance and energy reserve depletion. Though the diarrhoea is mostly initiated by some infectious agent but the ultimate loss is caused by the dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and the acidosis. The younger the calf, the greater is the chance of death. Determinants of Calf Scours Calf scours is an outcome of collective interaction between different composite factors intermingled with each other. Host, agent and the environmental factors interacts dynamically with each other leading to the disease occurrence (Fig. 1). It is of immense importance to understand the dynamics between different factors to effectively control the calf scours in a herd. There is also an 8

2 Kumaresan et al. age dependent susceptibility of the calves to the different organisms causing scours, which has also to be understood to reduce the occurrence of calf scours. Table 1 depicts the age related susceptibility of calves to various infectious agents (Stoltenow and Vincent, 2003). Apart from infectious agents there is also nutritional scour, which is also very common among calves. It is contributed by several factors which are exclusively managemental in nature Overfeeding Poor milk quality Sudden change in milk quality Stress Pathology and Symptoms of Calf Scours To evolve a management practice suitable to curb the incidence of calf scours in the farm, the basic pathology and the major symptoms of the disease has to be understood clearly (Fig. 2). According to the agent factor there is variation in nature of the symptoms and post mortem findings in the animals. The salient symptoms and necropsy findings associated with different causative organisms is highlighted in Table 2. Treatment of Calf Scours The main problem in scouring calves is loss of body fluid leading to electrolytes imbalance therefore Fig. 1: Agent, Host, Environmental, Temporal factor dynamics in Calf scours Agent factors Bacterial - E. coli, Clostridium perfringes (B, C, D), Salmonella sp. Viral- Rota virus, Corona virus, BVD, IBR Protozoal- Cryptosporidia, Coccidia (Eimeria sp.) Yeasts and Moulds Host factors Quality and quantity of the colostrum ingested Time duration between birth to first ingestion of colostrum Prior exposure of the dam to the causal organisms (disease occurrence or vaccination) Parity of the dam Calf Scours Temporal factors Time of birth of the calf in the calving season, as calves born and infected earlier serve as pathogen multiplier Environmental factors Crowding density Housing and flooring system Ambient temperature and humidity Maintenance of adults with calves Sanitary measures of the farm Table-1: Susceptibility to the organisms of calf scours at different age Age of calf Causative organisms <5 days E. coli 5-15 days Rota virus, Corona virus, C. perfringens (B, C), Cryptosporidia days C. perfringens (B, C), Cryptosporidia, Coccidia, Salmonella >30 days Coccidia, Salmonella, C. perfringens (D), BVD 9

3 Managing Calf Scours the primary treatment must be aimed at restoring the water and electrolyte balance ( Oral electrolyte solutions: There are different commercially available oral electrolyte solutions for rehydration and it can be constituted at farm also. Be it the commercially purchased or constituted at farm it must contain the following constituents. Basic constituents of oral rehydration solution: Glucose g Sodium chloride g Glycine g Citric Acid 0.81 g Potassium citrate 0.21 g Potassium Hydrogen phosphate 6.80 g 64 ml of this oral rehydration solution need to be mixed with 2 litres of water to make an isotonic solution. Usually 2 litres of the oral fluid solution is given 1 to 3 times per day to a sick calf. If the calf is not able to drink, oesophageal probe or stomach tubes can be helpful for administering oral rehydration fluid. It should always be ensured that this rehydration fluid is not fed 15 minutes prior or after milk feeding. 1. Antimicrobial therapy: It is always advised to practice an antibiotics therapy in order to check the secondary bacterial complications. Antibiotics Infectious agent invasion Release of toxin, irritation and necrosis of the gut epithelium Malabsorption, hypersecretion, colon fermentation, fluid retention Dehydration Diarrhoea Body weakness Electrolyte Imbalance Acidosis Fig. 2: Pathology of Calf Scours Reduced nursing have to be administered both per os and parenteral route for being effective. Broad spectrum antibiotics including Amikacin, Gentamicin, Sulfadimidine and Penicillin G are commonly used to treat calf scours. 2. Herbal products and Probiotics: Combination of herbal products (Neem, Garlic, Ginger, Amla, Black pepper, Ajwain etc.) along with probiotics (Lactobacillus acidophilus, L. salivarius, L. paracasei, L. plantarum, L. lactis and Enterococcus faecium) and hydrogen peroxide separately has been successfully tried in controlling calf scours (Mazza, 1994; Jans, 2005; Timmerman et al., 2005). This direction of treatment needs validation through further detailed research. Management of Calf Scours-Herd health approach Preventing calf scours is always a year around effort and not a set of activities centred on calving season. Management efforts should begin well in advance to its birth, when the calf is in foetus stage itself through proper management of feeding of the dam (Mulligan et al., 2006). Managemental principles for effective control of calf scours: 1. Proper prepartum feeding management to attain healthier calves 10

4 Kumaresan et al. Table-2: Causative organisms, clinical findings and necropsy findings of Calf scours Causal organism Clinical findings Necropsy findings Rota virus Drooling of saliva Increased volume of fluid in both Profuse watery diarrhoea the small and large intestine Colour of faeces varies from yellow No gross lesion in the intestine to green Loss of appetite Mortality rate is about 50% Corona virus Profuse watery diarrhoea for Intestine is full of liquid faeces several days Sometime gross lesions are Colour of faeces vary from yellow found in the intestine, but they to white may be due to secondary Presence of egg white like mucus bacterial infection in the faeces in severe cases Lungs and upper respiratory tract may get infected Mortality rate varies from 1-25% Bovine Viral Profuse watery diarrhoea Erosion and ulcerative Diarrhoea (BVD) Ulcers on the tongue, lips and lesion in the small and large mouth intestine Nasal discharges Escherichia Coli Diarrhoea and progressive Several non-specific lesions can dehydration be found in the intestine Possibly high temperature Intestine is filled with fluid and Foul-smelling white or yellowish yellow coloured faces to tarry black coloured faeces Salmonella sp. Foul-smelling, pasty to fluid Finding a membrane-like coating fibrinous diarrhoea with mucus in the intestine is strong Depression and elevated presumptive evidence of temperature Salmonella infection There will be endo-toxic shock after antibiotic treatment of the ailment Clostridium Sudden onset Hemorrhagic intestinal tractperfringens (B, C, D) Affected calves become listless, 'purple gut'. display uneasiness and strain Large hemorrhagic or bloody, or kick at their abdomen purplish areas where the tissue Bloody diarrhoea may or may looks dead in the small intestine not occur Types B and D may produce diarrhoea without the usual postmortem lesions. Coccidia Diarrhoea with rump area Hemorrhagic intestinal lesions smeared by faecal material as far as the tail reach 11

5 Managing Calf Scours Coccidia Blood stains may be in the faeces Death may occur during the acute period or later due to secondary bacterial complication Cryptospotidium Occur as mixed infection with There is damage in the micro others so produce various type villi of the small intestine of symptoms depending upon infection Yellow to brown coloured faeces Nutritional scour It is characterised by white colour No significant necropsy lesion is watery diarrhoea with sweet observed sour odour containing undigested feed articles 2. Removal of the cause of the disease from the environment of the newborn 3. Removal of the newborn from the infectious environment 4. Increasing non-specific resistance of the new born 5. Increasing specific resistance of the new born 1. Prepartum feeding management to attain healthier calves Proper feeding of the pregnant cow during the last trimester is most often neglected as the cows are non-productive during this period and this leads to weak calves. A good prepartum care is the key to long term goals towards a better postpartum health of the cow and the calf. The energy requirements during late pregnancy go up to 1.3 to 1.5 times as that of maintenance, so also the protein particularly in the last two months (Eastridge, 2006). Again a very high plane of nutrition before calving though desirable with respect to production may cause trouble at the time of calving. Thus, the objective should be to gradually steam up dairy cows by progressively increasing the quantity of concentrate so that they reach an optimum body condition at the time of calving. Cows or heifers in a lean condition are normally given the maximum ration of concentrates 7-40 days before calving. This maximum quantity concentrate which would be fed to the cow is calculated based on her expected daily peak yield of milk. Supplementation of selenium to the dry cows (0.14 mg/lb, 0.3 ppm) is essential as selenium deficiency can result in early births, weak calves at birth and stillbirths. Dry cow nutrition also affects colostrum quality (Goff, 2006).Colostrum is low in Vitamin E unless the cow is supplemented. Normally, it is recommended that 1000 IU/day of Vitamin E be supplemented during the dry period. Immunoglo-bulin absorption from the colostrum is also dependent on the protein level of the diet. About 12-13% protein in the far-off dry cow diet and 14-15% protein in the prefresh diet fed the last 3 weeks before calving is recommended. 2. Removal of the cause of the disease from the environment of the newborn The new born calves are most prone to take up infection from the environment; therefore it is of prime importance to provide calf with reasonably clean environment, free from disease causal pathogens responsible for calf scours. To reduce the disease causal organisms from the environment of the calf certain measures have to be taken. Animals should be born in an environment which is reasonably clean, dry, sheltered, disinfected and conducive for the calf to stand after birth and suck the dam. It is best to provide single calving pen for individual pregnant animals to prevent cross infection. 12

6 Kumaresan et al. There should be provision of secondary calving area in the herd to prevent infection to the calves born later in the calving season from earlier incidences. Calving area should be free from animal traffic well in advance around calving season as animals from outside can be a potential source of infection to the newborn There should be some surveillance for occurrence of dystocia, hypoxia, physical injuries, oedema etc. Immediately after calving the navel cord should be snipped and swabbed with tincture iodine and umbilical vessels should be clamped with plastic clamps or should be ligated. Calving pens should be cleaned, disinfected and freshly bedded in between calving. It is best to practice all in all out system in the calving pen and calf barn in order to reduce the chances of infection spreading from a batch of calving to next batch. 3. Removal of newborn from the infectious environment Sometime it is more practical to remove the newborn from the contaminated environment. Different approaches can be directed in this regard. Adult animals are the most important source of causal organisms for the calf scour; therefore it is best to remove the calves from the dam and the main herd immediately after birth (if weaning is practiced in the herd). They should be maintained in individual pen or in individual cages or in hutches. If any calf develops scours, it should be immediately shifted from the main calf pen to isolation cages till recovery. If weaning is not practised in the herd and develops diarrhoea, the calf-dam pair should be immediately shifted to a seperate place 4. Increasing non-specific resistance of the newborn calves Colostrum is the source of passive immunity to the calf as it provide preformed antibody to the calves. Within first few hours of birth, the gut epithelium of calf is able to absorb macromolecules like immunoglobulin. Though 81% of the immunoglobulins in colostrum is IgG 1 (47.6 mg/ ml), IgG 2 (2.9 mg/ml), IgM (4.2 mg/ml) and IgA (3.9 mg/ml) are also present in minor amount (Quigley and Drewry, 1998). There are few basic consideration regarding colostrum feeding in calves Serum concentration of IgG 1 must attain a level of 1000 mg/dl. 100 gm of IgG 1 must be ingested (in a calf of 45 kg birth weight) to attain this level. Calf must receive at least 2 litres colostrum within two hours of birth and a second dose within 24 hours. In order to prevent scours caused by Rota virus continue colostrum feeding (at least 2.5 litres / day for 2-3 weeks) is recommended to maintain antibody level in gut to prevent infection. Table-3: Prepartum cow vaccination schedule to check calf scours Causal organism Form of vaccine Time of vaccination Rota virus Attenuated live virus vaccine First at 6 to 12 weeks before calving, and the second as close to calving Corona virus Attenuated live virus vaccine as possible. The next year, the cows are given a booster vaccination just before calving Bovine viral Diarrhoea Attenuated live virus vaccine 1 to 2 months before breeding Escherichia Coli Oil adjuvant K99 antigen vaccine 6 weeks and 3 weeks prior to calving Clostridium perfringens Clostridium perfringens toxoid 60 and 30 days before calving (B, C, D) 13

7 Managing Calf Scours 5. Increasing specific resistance of the new born The availability of antibodies in the colostrums, against disease causing agents, depends upon the cows exposure to disease. Vaccination pregnant cattle between one and three months before calving will significantly increase the amount of antibodies in colostrum (Table 3) (Hartwig and Hauptmeier, 1995; Wenzel et al., 2009). Epilogue Calf scours is not a single disease entity rather it is the symptom arises from several correlated infections at the early age of the calves. It causes more financial loss to cow-calf producers than any other disease-related problem they encounter. Despite good hygiene and apparent good intakes of colostrum from vaccinated cattle, there may be still incidence of calf scours in the herd, which demands following key points to be taken into consideration: Prepartum feeding and vaccination of the pregnant cows. Intelligent application of known husbandry and veterinary principles and methods to ensure the birth of healthy calves into a favourable environment. Prompt and adequate amount of colostrum feeding to the newborn to attain desired IgG 1 concentrations. Calf scours is a preventable and treatable condition. However, if the noninfectious causes of calf scours are ignored or receive inadequate attention, the subsequent infectious causes of calf scours can and will cause serious hardship for the calf and subsequently the producer. References Calf scour cause and control. Factsheet Eastridge, M. L. (2006). Major Advances in Applied Dairy Cattle Nutrition. J. Dairy Sci. 89: Goff, J.P. (2006). Major Advances in Our Understanding of Nutritional Influences on Bovine Health. J. Dairy Sci. 89: Hartwig, N.R. and L. Hauptmeier. (1995). Beef and Dairy Cattle Vaccination Programs Prepared. Animal Science (4 & 5). Iowa State University, University Extension. Jans, D. (2005). Probiotics in Animal Nutrition. Feafana Absl, Brussels, Belgium. Pp Kumaresan, A., Behera, K., Mohanty, T.K., Shiv Prasad and Layek, S.S. (2009). Strategizing managemental practices for dairy calves. Intas Polivet. 10: Lorenz, I. (2006). Diarrhoea of the young calf: An update. Presented in World Buiatrics Congress Nice, France. Ref. Mazza, P. (1994). The use of bacillus subtilis as an antidiarrhoeal microorganism. Boll. Chim. Farmaceutico Anno 133: N.1, pp Mulligan, F.J., O Grady, L., Rice, D.A. and Doherty, M.L. (2006). A herd health approach to dairy cow nutrition and production diseases of the transition cow. Anim. Reprod. Sci., 96: Quigley, J.D. III and Drewry, J.J. (1998). Nutrient and immunity Transfer from Cow to Calf Pre- and Postcalving. J. Dairy Sci. 81: Radostitis, O.M., Gay C.C., Blood, D.C. and Hinchcliff, K. W. (2000). Veterinary Medicine- A Textbook of the diseases of cattle, sheep, pigs, goats and horses. 9 th Ed. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, USA. pp Stoltenow, C.L. and Vincent, L.L. (2003). Calf scours- Causes, prevention and treatment. AS-776 (Revised) North Dakota State University, Extension Service. / Timmerman, H.M., Mulder, L., Everts, H., van Espen, D.C., vander Wal, E., Klaassen, G., Rouwers, S.M.G., Hartemink, R., Rombouts, F.M. and Beyne, A.C. (2005). Health and Growth of Veal Calves Fed Milk Replacers With or Without Probiotics. J. Dairy Sci., 88: Wenzel, J., Mathis, C.P. and Carter, B. (2009). Cow Herd Vaccination Guidelines. Guide B-224, New Mexico State University. 14