Identification of selected disease agents from calves on Costa Rican tropical cloud-forest dairy farms

Abstract

Hird, D., Pdrez, E., Caballero, M., Rodriguez, L. and Velfizquez, J., 1990. Identification of selected disease agents from calves on Costa Rican tropical cloud-forest dairy farms. Prev. Vet. Met., 231.Rotavirus, K99+ E. coli and coccidia were identified from feces of 10%, 13% and 37% of 300 selected dairy calves ~< 3 months of age, and from 26%, 36% and 45% of 42 Costa Rican dairy farms, respectively. Calf breeds were Holstein 68%, Jersey 27% and other breeds 5%. Median calf ages at identification of rotavirus, K99 + E. coli and coccidia were 14.5, 15, and 33 days, respectively. Differences between isolation rates for the wet and dry season were not statistically significant for any of the three agents. Prevalence of antibodies against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and bovine parainfluenza-3 virus were 7% and 82%, respectively, for selected calves. Of calf sera tested for immunoglobulins, 9.5% were negative.

Infectious agents associated with diarrhoea of calves in the canton of Tilarán, Costa Rica

“…Salmonella spp. were detected in 2% of the calves with diarrhoea, which is in agreement with the results of previous studies (Pohjola et al, 1986;Snodgrass et al, 1986;Hird et al, 1990). However, in contrast to previous findings in animals from PO&, Costa Rica (Hird et al, 19901, the species isolated from the calves in Tilaran was S. derby.…”

“…This result is comparable to the findings reported in a previous study of Costa Rican calves (Oviedo et al, 1987). The percentage of scouring calves in which no enteropathogen could be detected was comparable to results of other surveys (Reynolds et al, 1986;Hird et al, 1990). This relatively high percentage might indicate that many cases of diarrhoea were not associated with infectious disease agents, but due to nutritional or other management factors.…”

“…Whenever an animal was sampled, a form was completed with relevant information. Sample size was calculated as the minimum number of calves necessary to detect a difference between 15% (prevalence rate of Rotavirus in calves with diarrhoea; Hird et al, 1990) and 6% (prevalence rate of Rotavirus in calves without diarrhoBea; Hird et al, 1990) at a confidence level of 95% and a power of 80%; 179 calves with diarrhoea and 179 controls were needed. Controls were discarded whenever they turned into cases within 1 week of sampling and, consequently, the match was not used in the analysis.…”

“…In order to increase productivity per livestock unit without increasing livestock numbers, it is important to identify the etiological and predisposing factors involved in calf diarrhoea in order to devise preventive measures and reduce losses during the initial months of life. Previously, such studies have been conducted on various dairy farms in Costa Rica (Oviedo et al, 1987;Corder0 and Osorio, 1988;Hird et al, 1990). However, most cattle in Costa Rica (60%) are kept in extensive beef production systems and 18% are kept in dual-purpose (DP; beef and dairy) systems.…”

Evaluation of relationship between Rotavirus and Coronavirus infections with calf diarrhea by capture ELISA

“…In another study on 218 fecal samples from diarrheic dairy calves, 1-30 days old, rotaviral infection was detected in 46.2%, 45.6%, 33.8%, and 48.3% of the calves in the respective age groups of 1-7, 8-14, 15-21, and 22-30 days. There was no significant differences in the detection rate of rotaviral infection among calves on the different age groups (Garcia et al 2000).The other study reported the presence of BRV in 10% of fecal samples of dairy calves younger than 3 months in Costa Rica (Hird et al 1990). In a study in Switzerland, the prevalence of bovine rotavirus and Coronavirus in infected calves with age of 1-21 days, were 58.7% and 7.8%, respectively (Uhde et al 2008).…”