Calf-Level Factors Associated with Bovine Neonatal Pancytopenia – A Multi-Country Case-Control Study

Jones, Bryony A.; Sauter-Louis, Carola; Henning, Joerg; Stoll, Alexander; Nielen, Mirjam; Van Schaik, Gerdien; Smolenaars, Anja; Schouten, Matthijs; den Uijl, Ingrid; Fourichon, Christine; Guatteo, Raphael; Madouasse, Aurélien; Nusinovici, Simon; Deprez, Piet; De Vliegher, Sarne; Laureyns, Jozef; Booth, Richard; Cardwell, Jackie M.; Pfeiffer, Dirk U.

In conclusion, this multi-country study provides strong evidence that receiving colostrum from a PregSure-vaccinated cow is a major risk factor for BNP. If calves are only given colostrum from unvaccinated cows then it is highly unlikely that a calf will develop BNP. The study design and sample size provided adequate statistical power to investigate many hypotheses related to farming practices such as colostrum management, calf feeding and vaccination, but no other important calf management-related risk factors were identified. This suggests that there are other important factors, such as genetics, that were outside the scope of this study, which explain why BNP develops in some PregSure-colostrumexposed calves but not in others. These require further investigation. Questionnaire S1.