Posted by Dr. Sara Hooge on June 30 2009 08:47
Cryptosporidium (Crypto)
- Cryptosporidiosis (crypto), a disease affecting both animals and humans, is caused by the organism Cryptosporidium
- Not bacteria or a virus...a protozoa
- Can affect mice, pigs, lambs, calves, dogs, cats, horses, and PEOPLE...so be careful!!
How does it cause diarrhea?
- Invades the lining of the gut, kills the cells that absorb nutrients
- low nutrient absorption leads to water loss to gut leading to secondary milk fermentation and dehydration which results in severe illness and death.
Clinical Disease
- Signs: Diarrhea, weight loss, decreased intake
- Calves 1-3 weeks
- Can act in combination with other diseases which results in increased illness and death
Transmission
- Fecal-oral
- Cavles infected with C. parvum can shed 10 billion oocytes (egg) per day
- Rapid shedding leads to a contaminated environment
- Minimize contact between infected feces and calves to help control spread.
Other Information
Diagnosis
- Before Death: Fecal sample
- After Death: Intestinal scraping
Prevention
- No disinfectant inactivates well
- Minimize cross contamination between calves
- Minimize environmental build-up of crypto
- Clean and disinfect buckets and bottles
Treatment
- Need to maintain hydration and nutrition
- Correcting acidosis
- There are no labeled products for the treatment of crypto
- There are effective extra label products in reducing clinical cases of Cryptosporidiosis
- Talk to your veterinarian
Crypto Summary
- Cryptosporidium is common in dairy calves
- Young animals can be affected with Cryptsporidium parvum and shed the organism in large numbers when they have diarrhea.
- People can get Cryptosporidium by ingestion of oocysts (eggs). This is not uncommon in farm workers who care for sick animals.
Mycoplasma Bovis
3 clinical syndromes:
- Feedlot pneumonia/arthritis
- Mastitis
- Calf pneumonia/arthritis/otitis media
Signs of Mycoplasma in Calves
Clinical Signs
- Typical signs of pneumonia
- Ear infection
- Recumbency
- Swollen knees and hocks
- Fever
Transmission
- Mycoplasma bovis is a natural inhabitant of the respiratory tract, vagina, and mucus membranes of healthy animals
- It has been demonstrated that young calves fed M. bovis- infected milk have higher rates of respiratory infections and lateral transmission of respiratory infections may occur as long as 9 months after initial infection.
- Cause- feeding of discard milk from infected cows
What causes Mycoplasma to cause disease?
- No one knows!
- The scientific community doesn't fully understand the mechanisms by which this bug goes from an organism of normal flora to one that produces such dramatic, contagious, and costly disease
Diagnosis of Mycoplasma
Diagnosis at Newport Labs or Dx labs
- Isolation/Identification the Mycoplasma
- Immunohistochemistry (IHC)
- Further Identification as M. bovis
- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
- Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA)
- Strain differentiation
Prevention
Vaccination
- License product - BI, Texas Labs,
- Autogenous products - utilize the isolate from your operation to produce protection
Treatment
- Very challenging, frequently unsuccessful
- Delayed onset following other infectious agents
- Abscessation
- Antibiotic resistance
- Especially in polyarthritis
- Oxytetracycline, Chorotetracycline, Myocin-(Lincocin, Spectinomycin)
Summary
- M. bovis is difficult to treat
- Help prevent by not feeding waste milk
- Prevention by identifying and vaccinating for Mycoplasma
What is Bio-mos?
- Bio-mos is added to milk replacer or feed to decrease scours. It is a carbohydrate that attaches to bacteria to help prevent Salmonella and E.coli from attaching. This makes the bacteria move through the gut, without attaching and causing disease. This is a non-antibiotic prevention that decreases the incidence of scours
Benefits of Bio-Mos
Preweaning
- Increase in gain and intake
- Decrease enteric disease
- Reduces treatments for scours
Postweaning
- Decrease morbidity
- Increase gain