Infectious Diseases - Calf Care Final Revision

Infectious Diseases - Final Revision (1)

• Calf Diarrhea (Mortality Control): Proper management, nutrition, and health care are crucial for controlling mortality in newborn calves. Colostrum feeding within the first few hours is essential for antibodies and nutrients. Provide clean, warm, and dry housing with adequate ventilation and bedding. Offer balanced milk replacer/whole milk and introduce appropriate starter feeds. Maintain hydration, especially during hot weather or illness. Follow a vaccination schedule with a veterinarian for disease protection. Detect and address illnesses like diarrhea, pneumonia, or navel infections promptly. Implement an internal and external parasite control program.
• Calf Care Protocols: Establish and follow standard operating procedures for proper calf care, including feeding, cleaning, and handling.
• Monitoring and Record-Keeping: Regularly track calf health, growth, and mortality to identify areas for improvement.
• Veterinary Support: Collaborate with a veterinarian to develop a comprehensive herd health plan and receive guidance on disease prevention and management.
• Perinatal Stresses: Maternal stress in mid to late gestation can lead to maternal undernutrition, reduced villus and crypt development, and diminished intestinal mass and length. Post-calving, stressors include Heat Stress, and reduced placental function. Calf stress (increased cortisol levels in the calf) along with bioactive compounds in colostrum impact intestinal maturation of enterocytes.
• Major Causes of Calf Problems: Diarrhea accounts for 42% of calf problems; followed by pneumoenteritis (25%), pneumonia (22%), and other issues like navel and joint problems (11%).
• Colostrum Management: Quantify passive transfer by measuring immunoglobulins in colostrum. High-quality colostrum has an IgG concentration of >50 g/L. If colostrum quality is medium to low, increase the amount fed to calves. Colostrum density can be used to estimate IgG concentration.
• Physiological Problems: Alkaline pH of the abomasum and enzymatic defects in the first week, and high milk capacity in the abomasum. Changes in colostrum to milk feeding. Reticuloruminal milk accumulation in cases where calves are ruminal drinkers.
• Causes and Signs of Scours/Diarrhea: Specific pathogens, such as E.coli, Salmonella, Cryptosporidium, Clostridium, Coccidia, Rotavirus, or Coronavirus, cause diarrhea in young calves. Symptoms vary by pathogen, with some causing watery, loose stool, or symptoms like fever and bloating. Duration of infection is affected by age and pathogen. Specific information on duration are provided in the table.
• Types of Rotavirus, E. coli & Coronavirus Infection: Infectious diseases vary significantly in duration based on pathogen. Specific pathogens have specific durations.
• Calf Rotavirus Infection: Infection is present from birth to adulthood, but symptoms manifest between 1 and 3 days.
• Cryptosporidiosis: This infectious disease mainly affects neonate calves and lambs.
• Colostrum-related Factors affecting Immunoglobulins digestion: Trypsin inhibitors in colostrum prevent immunoglobulins digestion in the abomasum, and High abomasal pH of 6-7 prevent pepsin activation.
• BRD Risk Peaks and Immunity Lag: Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) has high-risk periods for calves (from birth up to 20 days of age, and from 70 to 100 days old) related to the decline in maternal antibodies.
• Bovine Respiratory Diseases: Includes discussion about normal inhabitants (M. haemolytica, P. multocida, H. somni, IBR, BRSV, PI3), bacterial, viral, and parasitic stresses (lung worm, theileria). Additional information about clinical symptoms, post mortem findings, and treatment (antibiotics).
• Respiratory Diseases (BRSV) and IBR: Information on clinical presentation, pathogen, and severity of disease for young calves.
• Bovine Respiratory Diseases (BRD) Complex: General overview of the disease, economic impact of disease, and how stress can exacerbate BRD risk.
• Infectious Diseases (Cryptosporidiosis): This infectious disease is primarily found in neonate calves and lamb.
• Infectious Diseases (Salmonellosis): This infectious disease presents as bloody diarrhea and septicemia with an elevated temperature (41.5 °C).
• Pathogens associated with diarrhea in calves: Includes pathogens such as E.coli or Salmonella, and specific duration of each pathogen-associated diarrhea.
• Clinical Signs of Diseases: A summary of the clinical presentations.
• B) Rotavirus Infection: Discussion of the typical symptoms for calf rotavirus infection.
• C) Coronavirus Diarrhea: Overview of common signs.
• D) Clostridium Diarrhea: Typical signs.
• E) Salmonella: Pathogen, clinical presentation; including dipheteric membrane, bloody diarrhea, and septicemia.
• F) Coccidiosis: Clinical presentations of the disease, including gel like feces that are not washed by water for 3 weeks.
• G) Cryptosporidiosis: Discussion on infectious diseases in neonate calves and lambs.
• T) Bovine Theileriosis (Egyptian Fever/Mediterranean Coast Fever): Information on the species of theileria, their pathogenicity, and how the disease is transmitted.
• Cryptosporidiosis (Pathogen): This infectious disease is caused by the protozoa called Cryptosporidium parvum.
• Treatment: Treatment for various diseases, including specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis, coccidiosis, and anaplasmosis, along with supportive treatment for dehydration, hemorrhage control (using Amri-K), and fluid therapy.
• Prevention and Control: Strategies for disease prevention and control, such as vaccination, and environmental hygiene.
• Mastitis: Comprehensive overview of mastitis, classifications (clinical mastitis, subclinical mastitis), causes, treatment, and preventive measures, including the use of teat sealants, antibiotics, udder infusions, and vaccinations. Specific information about various mastitis types (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Corynebacterium Bovis, Clostridia, Mycoplasma, Yeast, and Tuberculosis).
• Mastitis-associated Problems: Chronic issues with mastitis can lead to lowered milk output, and potentially other health complications.
• Other Diseases: Overview of other diseases in the same category.
• Vaccination Practices: Specific information on the importance of vaccination for diseases in calves and cows, especially important in endemic areas and how it interferes with the diagnosis of disease. Information on Live, inactivated, and attenuated vaccine usage and protocols are available.

This quiz covers essential protocols for managing calf health, focusing on preventing mortality through proper management, nutrition, and health care. Key topics include colostrum feeding, housing conditions, and vaccination schedules to maintain calf health. Testing your knowledge will help ensure the welfare of newborn calves in agricultural practices.