Longitudinal study on morbidity and mortality in white veal calves in Belgium

Abstract

BackgroundMortality and morbidity are hardly documented in the white veal industry, despite high levels of antimicrobial drug use and resistance. The objective of the present study was to determine the causes and epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in dairy, beef and crossbred white veal production. A total of 5853 calves, housed in 15 production cohorts, were followed during one production cycle. Causes of mortality were determined by necropsy. Morbidity was daily recorded by the producers.ResultsThe total mortality risk was 5,3% and was significantly higher in beef veal production compared to dairy or crossbreds. The main causes of mortality were pneumonia (1.3% of the calves at risk), ruminal disorders (0.7%), idiopathic peritonitis (0.5%), enterotoxaemia (0.5%) and enteritis (0.4%). Belgian Blue beef calves were more likely to die from pneumonia, enterotoxaemia and arthritis. Detection of bovine viral diarrhea virus at necropsy was associated with chronic pneumonia and pleuritis. Of the calves, 25.4% was treated individually and the morbidity rate was 1.66 cases per 1000 calf days at risk. The incidence rate of respiratory disease, diarrhea, arthritis and otitis was 0.95, 0.30, 0.11 and 0.07 cases per 1000 calf days at risk respectively. Morbidity peaked in the first three weeks after arrival and gradually declined towards the end of the production cycle.ConclusionsThe present study provided insights into the causes and epidemiology of morbidity and mortality in white veal calves in Belgium, housed in the most frequent housing system in Europe. The necropsy findings, identified risk periods and differences between production systems can guide both veterinarians and producers towards the most profitable and ethical preventive and therapeutic protocols.

Pre-slaughter mortality and post-slaughter wastage in bobby veal calves at a slaughter premises in New Zealand

“…The low incidence of enzootic pneumonia in this study is in line with other studies, which suggest low levels of pneumonia in very young calves (Svensson et al 2006;Waldner et al 2010), but a higher prevalence in older calves reared on-farm as dairy replacements (Sivula et al 1996;Svensson et al 2006;Gulliksen et al 2009) or for beef production (Waldner et al 2010), or in white veal systems (Sargeant et al 1994;Bähler et al 2012;Pardon et al 2012a). …”

“…Other studies have generally not noted omphalitis as a significant cause of calf mortality, but 10-15% of calf deaths have been attributed to septicaemia (Virtala et al 1996;Bähler et al 2012) or idiopathic peritonitis (Pardon et al 2012a) and it is possible that these infections originated in the umbilicus. Antibiotic usage is common in calf rearing or white veal systems (Sargeant et al 1994;Pardon et al 2012b;Walker et al 2012), but not in bobby veal systems and this most likely accounts for the marked difference in omphalitis-related mortality.…”

“…Additionally, death was most likely within the first week of life, and gastro-intestinal disease was more prevalent as a cause of mortality at that age (Virtala et al 1996;Svensson et al 2006;Gulliksen et al 2009). Similarly, in white veal production systems, where calves were typically 1-2 weeks of age at arrival, mortality was highest in the first 2 weeks and was most commonly caused by gastro-intestinal or pulmonary diseases (Sargeant et al 1994;Bähler et al 2012;Pardon et al 2012a).…”

Measuring general animal health status: Development of an animal health barometer

“…dairy versus beef holdings) and because adult cattle were already well represented in the animal health barometer (AHI6-notification of bovine abortions and AHI7-milk somatic cell count), it was decided to restrict mortality data of cattle to veal calves. They represent a separate and highly specialised branch of the Belgian cattle industry characterised by few but large holdings (Pardon et al, 2012). Veal calves mortality data are a reliable and useful parameter for the health of the veal calf production.…”

The synergistic necrohemorrhagic action of Clostridium perfringens perfringolysin and alpha toxin in the bovine intestine and against bovine endothelial cells

“…Since the ban on antimicrobial growth promoters in Europe, necrohemorrhagic enteritis emerged as a major cause of mortality in veal calves in Belgium, causing important economic losses [1-3]. Bovine necrohemorrhagic enteritis, also known as enterotoxaemia, is most typically characterized by sudden death and macroscopic post-mortem findings are necrotic and hemorrhagic lesions in the small intestine [4,5].…”