scholarly journals Growth performance and hematological changes of weaned beef calves diagnosed with respiratory disease using respiratory scoring and thoracic ultrasonography

2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inmaculada Cuevas-Gómez ◽  
Mark McGee ◽  
Matthew McCabe ◽  
Paul Cormican ◽  
Edward O’Riordan ◽  
...  

Abstract This study investigated 1) the effect of clinical bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and associated lung consolidations on growth performance and hematological profiles of recently weaned beef calves and 2) the relationship between clinical respiratory signs and lung consolidation detected by thoracic ultrasonography (TUS). One hundred and fifty-three weaned beef calves (209 days old [SD: 35.8] and 306 kg [SD: 26.3], at arrival) purchased and transported from auction markets were accommodated indoors in concrete slatted floor pens. Calves were weighed weekly from arrival until day 28 and on day 65 post-arrival. Assessment of BRD and blood sample collection for hematological profiles were performed on scheduled days (at arrival, on days 7, 14, and 28) and on other days upon BRD diagnosis. Animals were assessed for BRD using a total clinical respiratory score (CRS) of five clinical signs (rectal temperature, ear position, cough, nasal secretion, and eye secretion with each ranging from normal [0] to abnormal [3]) and TUS scores (normal [0] to lung consolidation ≥ 1 cm2 [2]). Based on CRS, 35% of calves were CRS+ (CRS ≥ 5) and 65% were CRS− (CRS < 5). Although no lung consolidations (TUS−) were detected at arrival, 34% of calves developed lung consolidation (≥1 cm2) (TUS+) during the first 28 d post-arrival. Only fever (>39.6 °C) and nasal discharge were weakly associated (r = 0.19, P <0.05) with lung consolidation. On the day of BRD detection, neutrophil number and neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio were 58% and 73% greater, respectively, in BRD calves with lung consolidation compared with healthy calves. From day 0 to 65, calf average daily gain (ADG) did not differ (P >0.05) between CRS+ and CRS− calves but was 0.09 kg/d lower (P < 0.05) for TUS+ compared with TUS− calves. Calves classified as BRD (CRS + TUS ≥ 5) with lung consolidation had lower (P < 0.05) ADG from arrival until day 28 than healthy calves and BRD calves without lung consolidation (0.11 ± 0.10 vs. 0.53 ± 0.07 vs. 0.57 ± 0.10 kg/d, respectively); however, no differences in ADG were observed from day 0 to 65. Conventional methods to diagnose BRD failed to detect calves with lung lesions. TUS is a useful tool to detect lung lesions and its implementation in combination with CRS should provide a more accurate and early diagnosis of BRD, which is fundamental to successful treatment, animal welfare, and growth performance.

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inmaculada Cuevas-Gómez ◽  
Mark McGee ◽  
José María Sánchez ◽  
Edward O’Riordan ◽  
Nicky Byrne ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the main cause of mortality among 1-to-5 month old calves in Ireland, accounting for approximately one-third of deaths. Despite widespread use of clinical respiratory signs for diagnosing BRD, lung lesions are detected, using thoracic ultrasonography (TUS) or following post-mortem, in calves showing no clinical signs. This highlights the limitation of clinical respiratory signs as a method of detecting sub-clinical BRD. Using 53 purchased artificially-reared male dairy calves, the objectives of this study were to: (i) characterise the BRD incidence detected by clinical respiratory signs and/or TUS, (ii) investigate the association between clinical respiratory signs and lung lesions detected by TUS, and (iii) assess the effect of BRD on pre-weaning growth. Results Clinical BRD (based on Wisconsin clinical respiratory score and/or rectal temperature > 39.6 ºC) was detected in 43 % and sonographic changes (lung lesions) were detected in 64 % of calves from purchase (23 (SD; 6.2) days of age) until weaning, 53 days post-arrival. Calves with clinical BRD were treated. Sixty-one per cent calves affected with clinical BRD had lung lesions 10.5 days (median) before detection of clinical signs. Moderate correlations (rsp 0.70; P < 0.05) were found between cough and severe lung lesions on arrival day, and between rectal temperature > 39.6 ºC and lung lesions ≥ 2 cm2 on day 7 (rsp 0.40; P < 0.05) post-arrival. Mean average daily live weight gain (ADG) of calves from purchase to weaning was 0.75 (SD; 0.10) kg; calves with or without clinical BRD did not differ in ADG (P > 0.05), whereas ADG of those with severe lung lesions (lung lobe completely consolidated or pulmonary emphysema) was 0.12 kg/d less (P < 0.05) than calves without lung lesions. Conclusions Thoracic ultrasonography detected lung consolidation in calves that did not show signs of respiratory disease. The presence of severe lung lesions was associated with reduced pre-weaning growth. These findings emphasise the importance of using TUS in addition to clinical respiratory scoring of calves for an early and accurate detection of clinical and sub-clinical BRD.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1443-1452
Author(s):  
Ronaldo M. Bianchi ◽  
Welden Panziera ◽  
Tatiane C. Faccin ◽  
Gisane L. de Almeida ◽  
Juliana F. Cargnelutti ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT: This article describes the clinical, pathological and epidemiological aspects of 17 outbreaks of bluetongue (BT) disease in sheep occurring between December 2014 and July 2015 in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul state (RS), southern Brazil. Affected farms were visited for clinical examination, necropsy, sample collection and epidemiological investigation. The outbreaks were seasonal and occurred during the summer and autumn. A total of 180 sheep (20.4%) out of 884 in 17 small herds were affected. All ages of Texel and mixed breed sheep were affected. However, lambs (younger than one year) had higher morbidity than adult sheep. The most frequent clinical signs were anorexia, lethargy, loss of body condition, facial swelling mainly involving the lips, and greenish seromucous or mucous nasal discharge. Pulmonary lesions characterized by edema were the most prevalent findings; however, erosive and ulcerative lesions in the upper gastrointestinal tract, as well as cardiac, skeletal muscle and esophageal striated muscle necrosis, and hemorrhage in the pulmonary artery were also frequent. The bluetongue virus (BTV) genome was detected by RT-PCR in blood and tissue samples (spleen and lungs) of 21 animals from 17 outbreaks. The virus involved in the outbreak 3 was subsequently isolated and shown to belong to serotype 17, for the first time reported in Brazil. In summary, our data support the BTV genotype 17 as the etiological agent of the outbreaks and indicate that the central region of RS is an area at risk for BT in sheep, a disease previously not recognized in the region.


2019 ◽  
Vol 184 (12) ◽  
pp. 385-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Pusterla ◽  
Kaitlyn James ◽  
Samantha Mapes ◽  
Farifield Bain

ContextDue to the inconsistent development of enteric signs associated with ECoV infection in adult horses, many practitioners collect nasal secretions rather than feces for the molecular diagnostic work-up of such horses.Main conclusionECoV infection should be considered in horses presenting with acute onset of fever, especially when nasal discharge is absent as one of the cardinal clinical sign.ApproachA total of 277 adult horses with acute onset of fever were enrolled in this study. Feces were tested for ECoV and nasal secretions for common respiratory pathogens (equine herpesvirus (EHV)-1, EHV-4, equine influenza virus (EIV), equine rhinitis viruses (ERVs) and Streptococcus equi ss. equi) and ECoV by qPCR. Each submission was accompanied by a questionnaire requesting information pertaining to signalment, use, recent transportation, number of affected horses on the premise and presence of clinical signs at the time of sample collection.ResultsThe total number of horses testing qPCR-positive for ECoV in feces was 20 (7.2%), 4 of which also tested qPCR-positive for ECoV in nasal secretions. In the same population 9.0% of horses tested qPCR-positive for EHV-4, 6.1% for EIV, 4.3% for Streptococcus equi ss. equi, 3.2% for ERVs and 0.7% for EHV-1. Draft horses, pleasure use, multiple horses affected on a premise and lack of nasal discharge were significantly associated with ECoV qPCR-positive horses.InterpretationThe present study results showed that 7.2% of horses with acute onset of fever tested qPCR-positive for ECoV in feces, highlighting the importance of testing such horses for ECoV in feces. The various prevalence factors associated with ECoV qPCR-positive status likely relate to the high infectious nature of ECoV and breed-specific differences in management and husbandry practices.Significance of findingsECoV infection should be suspected and tested for in horses presenting with acute onset of fever, lethargy and anorexia with no respiratory signs. A two-step approach should be consider in which respiratory secretions and feces should be collected from such horses and submitted to a diagnostic laboratory. If the respiratory secretions test negative by qPCR for a panel of respiratory pathogens, feces already submitted to the laboratory should be tested for ECoV.


2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (12) ◽  
pp. 5636-5642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Ferguson ◽  
Alicia K. Olivier ◽  
Suzanne Genova ◽  
William B. Epperson ◽  
David R. Smith ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTCattle have been proposed as the natural reservoir of a novel member of the virus familyOrthomyxoviridae, which has been tentatively classified as influenza D virus (IDV). Although isolated from sick animals, it is unclear whether IDV causes any clinical disease in cattle. To address this aspect of Koch's postulates, three dairy calves (treatment animals) held in individual pens were inoculated intranasally with IDV strain D/bovine/Mississippi/C00046N/2014. At 1 day postinoculation, a seronegative calf (contact animal) was added to each of the treatment animal pens. The cattle in both treatment and contact groups seroconverted, and virus was detected in their respiratory tracts. Histologically, there was a significant increase in neutrophil tracking in tracheal epithelia of the treatment calves compared to control animals. While infected and contact animals demonstrated various symptoms of respiratory tract infection, they were mild, and the calves in the treatment group did not differ from the controls in terms of heart rate, respiratory rate, or rectal temperature. To mimic zoonotic transmission, two ferrets were exposed to a plastic toy fomite soaked with infected nasal discharge from the treatment calves. These ferrets did not shed the virus or seroconvert. In summary, this study demonstrates that IDV causes a mild respiratory disease upon experimental infection of cattle and can be transmitted effectively among cattle by in-pen contact, but not from cattle to ferrets through fomite exposure. These findings support the hypothesis that cattle are a natural reservoir for the virus.IMPORTANCEA novel influenza virus, tentatively classified as influenza D virus (IDV), was identified in swine, cattle, sheep, and goats. Among these hosts, cattle have been proposed as the natural reservoir. In this study, we show that cattle experimentally infected with IDV can shed virus and transmit it to other cattle through direct contact, but not to ferrets through fomite routes. IDV caused minor clinical signs in the infected cattle, fulfilling another of Koch's postulates for this novel agent, although other objective clinical endpoints were not different from those of control animals. Although the disease observed was mild, IDV induced neutrophil tracking and epithelial attenuation in cattle trachea, which could facilitate coinfection with other pathogens, and in doing so, predispose animals to bovine respiratory disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 186 ◽  
pp. 105208
Author(s):  
Joana Pessoa ◽  
Maria Rodrigues da Costa ◽  
Edgar García Manzanilla ◽  
Tomas Norton ◽  
Conor McAloon ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 796-801
Author(s):  
Mariane F. Franco ◽  
Natália C. Gaeta ◽  
Mario A.R. Alemán ◽  
Priscilla A. Mellville ◽  
Jorge Timenetsky ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT: Respiratory diseases are among the most important diseases in sheep flocks. Herein was studied the bacterial etiology of respiratory disease and the clinical signs of 99 female and male sheep breed in the states of São Paulo (SP) and Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil. After physical examination of animals, tracheobronchial flushing samples were obtained. The usual bacteria and Mycoplasma spp. were searched, as well as their association with the clinical status and clinical signs of sheep with respiratory disease. The main observed signs were: tachypnea (75%), increase of rectal temperature (09.4%), mucopurulent/purulent nasal discharge (21.9%), cough (25%), dyspnea (31.2%), changes of lung sounds at auscultation (87.5%) and chest percussion (28.1%) in pneumonic sheep. Non-fermenting gram-negative bacteria and Bacillus sp. were the most isolated bacteria. Microorganisms of the Mollicutes class were molecularly (PCR) detected in 33.3% of the animals. In addition, the specific detection of M. mycoides subsp. capri was described for the first time in sheep from the state of São Paulo, Brazil.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhicheng Wang ◽  
Lisha Duan ◽  
Fei Liu ◽  
Yun Hu ◽  
Chaoliang Leng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Enterobacter hormaechei is commonly considered a causative pathogen for nosocomial infections and it does not usually cause diseases in animals. However, researchers have recently dissociated the pathogenic Enterobacter hormaechei from foxes and piglets. Here, the Enterobacter hormaechei was first found to be associated with respiratory disease in unweaned calves in China. Case presentation A 2-month-old calf was severely sick and diagnosed with respiratory infection by a rural veterinarian, and it died 5 days after treatment with penicillin G. The lung sample was then run through histopathological analysis and pathogen isolation. The sequence analysis and biochemical tests results showed the isolated bacterium strain to be Enterobacter hormaechei, and drug sensitivity tests showed resistance to all β-lactam antimicrobials and sensitivity to quinolones. Thickened alveoli septum, inflammatory cell infiltration, and erythrocyte diapedesis around the pulmonary alveoli septum were visible in lung histopathological sections. One week later, at the same farm, another calf showed similar clinical signs, and the Enterobacter hormaechei strain was isolated from its nasal discharge; after a week of treatment with enrofloxacin, as suggested by the results of drug sensitivity tests, this calf fully recovered. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of calves with respiratory disease that was associated with E. hormaechei, and multi-drug resistance was observed in isolates.


2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Donkó ◽  
Melinda Kovács ◽  
T. Magyar

The influence of atrophic rhinitis (AR) and pneumonia on growth performance was assessed in a conventional farrow-to-finish pig farm affected by both diseases. All tested pigs (n = 138) were individually weighed at birth, at weaning, at moving to the growing/finishing unit, and at slaughtering. The extent (grade) of turbinate atrophy and lung consolidation attributable to pneumonia was determined in each pig at slaughter. A negative correlation was found between birth weight and the prevalence of nasal lesions at slaughter, suggesting that pigs born with smaller weight may be more susceptible to AR. The growth performance of the pigs also showed a negative correlation with the degree of turbinate atrophy. In the nursery period, the average daily gain (ADG) of pigs with moderate/severe turbinate atrophy was 13.3% lower than that of animals with healthy snouts. In the finishing period, pigs with mild AR lesions had an ADG reduction of 6.2%, while pigs with severe AR lesions had a significant, 9.4% reduction in ADG as compared to the AR-free pigs. The extent of weight gain reduction over the whole life cycle was very similar (approximately 6%) in the pigs having either AR or pneumonia alone. In those pigs where both respiratory diseases were present, their effects seemed to be added up (11.5%); however, nasal lesion scores and percentage of lung consolidation did not show statistically apparent interactive effects on growth performance.


2009 ◽  
Vol 63 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 177-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolaos Panousis

Dairy calf pneumonia is one of the most economically important diseases of calves. A delayed diagnosis could result endemic herd problem, prolonged use of antibiotics, high recurrence rate, pulmonary abscessation and ear infections. The key for effective control is the early detection of pneumonia and the accurate diagnosis of the etiologic factor. For the early detection, a respiratory disease score was assigned based on rectal temperature, character of nasal discharge, eye discharge or ear appearance, and presence of a cough. Each clinical sign has a point scale from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe). The respiratory disease score is the sum of points from the 4 categories of clinical signs, with increasing values representing progressive severity. The scoring system results in a minimum score of 0 and a maximum score of 12. Calves with score 5 or higher, having at least 2 clinical signs of respiratory disease, are considered sick and have to be treated. For the accurate diagnosis of the etiological agent the best tool in a live calf is bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid collection. Sampling of severely affected animals should be avoided. New acute cases are ideal. BAL is performed in sedated calves using a sterilized, flexible catheter with a 5-cc balloon cuff. The fresh BAL fluid sample is processed within 2 hours of collection or refrigerated until analysis. Part of the sample is used for microbiology and the remaining is submitted for cytology. BAL fluid that yields homogenous (>106 CFU/ml) bacterial or positive Mycoplasma bovis culture is considered abnormal. A disproportionate lowering of macrophages (<61%) or elevation of neutrophils (>39%) provides evidence of an inflammatory response with or without a positive culture. The ideal antibiotic selection would be based on the antibiotic susceptibility pattern of lung pathogens after BAL fluid culture.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-149
Author(s):  
M.S. Hasan ◽  
R.M. Humphrey ◽  
Z. Yang ◽  
M.A. Crenshaw ◽  
J. Brett ◽  
...  

Using alternative feedstuffs can be a feasible measure to reduce swine production cost. GuarPro F-71 (GP71), a newly developed guar meal product, is considered as a potential protein source for pigs. This preliminary study was conducted to evaluate the effects of GP71 inclusion in feed on growth performance and nutrient metabolism of growing pigs. Sixty crossbred barrows (31.9±1.84 kg body weight (BW)) were allotted to one of five dietary treatments in a completely randomised experiment design, with four pens/treatment and three pigs/pen. Diet 1 was a maize- and soybean-based basal control diet formulated to meet NRC recommendations. GP71 was used to replace 25, 50, 75, and 100% soybean meal in diet 1 (on an equivalent crude protein (CP) basis) to generate diets 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively. Crystalline amino acids were used to balance the essential amino acid concentrations across the five diets. Inclusion of GP71 quadratically reduced average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P=0.01) with no observed clinical signs of unhealthiness of pigs. The blood plasma concentrations of six metabolites, including urea nitrogen, total protein, albumin, glucose, total cholesterol and total triglycerides, were not affected (P>0.30), indicating that the pigs’ metabolic utilisation of nutrients was not compromised. The cubic effect (P<0.05) of dietary GP71 inclusion on G:F ratio suggested that the level of soybean meal replacement (up to 75% soybean meal) did not negatively affect feed efficiency in pigs. In short, the feed intake reduction due to the dietary GP71 inclusion was, if not solely, responsible for the average daily gain (ADG) and final BW reduction. This study suggested that using GP71 to replace soybean meal up to 75% (on an equivalent CP basis) can negatively affect ADFI and ADG, but not feed efficiency, in growing pigs. The reasons for the ADFI and ADG reduction need to be understood in future research.


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