Case–control study of microbiological etiology associated with calf diarrhea

Abstract

Calf diarrhea is a major economic burden for the US cattle industry. A variety of infectious agents are implicated in calf diarrhea and co-infection of multiple pathogens is not uncommon in diarrheic calves. A case-control study was conducted to assess infectious etiologies associated with calf diarrhea in Midwest cattle farms. A total of 199 and 245 fecal samples were obtained from diarrheic and healthy calves, respectively, from 165 cattle farms. Samples were tested by a panel of multiplex PCR assays for 11 enteric pathogens: bovine rotavirus group A (BRV-A), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine enterovirus (BEV), bovine norovirus (BNoV), Nebovirus, bovine torovirus (BToV) Salmonella spp. (Salmonella), Escherichia coli (E. coli) K99(+), Clostridium perfringens with β toxin gene and Cryptosporidium parvum (C. parvum). The association between diarrhea and detection of each pathogen was analyzed using a multivariate logistic regression model. More than a half of the fecal samples from the diarrheic calves had multiple pathogens. Statistically, BRV-A, BCoV, BNoV, Nebovirus, Salmonella, E. coli K99(+), and C. parvum were significantly associated with calf diarrhea (p<0.05). Among them, C. parvum and BRV-A were considered to be the most common enteric pathogens for calf diarrhea with high detection frequency (33.7% and 27.1%) and strong odds ratio (173 and 79.9). Unexpectedly BNoV (OR=2.0) and Nebovirus (OR=16.7) were identified with high frequency in diarrheic calves, suggesting these viruses may have a significant contribution to calf diarrhea.

Molecular and antigenic characterization of bovine Coronavirus circulating in Argentinean cattle during 1994–2010

“…RVA and BCoV co-circulation was significantly higher in dairy than in beef herds in the present survey. The co-circulation of these two viral enteropathogens was also observed in other countries such as the United States, India, Algeria, and Australia (Ammar et al, 2014;Cho et al, 2013;Izzo et al, 2011;Suresh et al, 2012).…”

Molecular Epidemiology of Rotavirus in Cats in the United Kingdom

“…The absence of an association between rotavirus infection and diarrhea in cats is in stark contrast to people, in whom diarrhea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Infection has also been associated with diarrhea and decreased productivity in cows (32,33), suckling pigs (34)(35)(36), and horses (37,38). Asymptomatic infections are reported, although their importance in transmis- a X indicates G or P rotavirus genotypes that were unable to be elucidated.…”

Isolation and Enrichment of Cryptosporidium DNA and Verification of DNA Purity for Whole-Genome Sequencing

“…are an important cause of moderate to severe diarrhea in humans and various animals (1,2). Over the past decade, great efforts have been made to understand the interaction between Cryptosporidium spp.…”