Proportional morbidity rates of enteropathogens among diarrheic dairy calves in central Spain

de la Fuente, R; García, A; Ruiz-Santa-Quiteria, J.A; Luzón, M; Cid, D; García, S; Orden, J.A; Gómez-Bautista, M

Faecal samples from 218 diarrheic dairy calves in 65 dairy herds, selected by convenience, were screened for the presence of rotavirus, coronavirus, Cryptosporidium spp., F5(+)Escherichia coli and Salmonella spp. Animals surveyed were from 1 to 30 days old. Cryptosporidium and rotavirus were the most commonly detected agents (52.3% and 42.7% of the samples positive, respectively). F5(+)E. coli was detected in the faeces of 11.9% of the calves and bovine coronavirus was detected in the faeces of 7.3% of the calves. Salmonella spp. was only found in the faeces of two calves (0.9%). Mixed infections with two or more agents occurred in 28% of the calves. Concurrent infection of rotavirus and Cryptosporidium was found in 21.6% of the calves. Two tests were used for the detection of rotavirus (a commercial ELISA and PAGE), F5(+)E. coli (ELISA and bacterial culture) and Cryptosporidium (ELISA and microscopy). The validity of the commercial ELISA for the detection of rotavirus, F5(+)E. coli and Cryptosporidium in faeces from diarrheic calves was evaluated using PAGE, bacterial culture and microscopy as gold standard, respectively. The ELISA showed a very low sensitivity (28.6%) for the detection of F5(+)E. coli compared to bacterial culture.