anyone hear of cryptosporiidae

[cattleproducer]

apparently this is supposed to be a deadly disease among cattle. I heard of someone that has this and it has killed already 21 calves and it hits them at 10-14 days old i guess....

just wondering if anyone has any info on this
Thanks

Wyatt

 

[MK]

Cryprosporidia is a protozoa...it is zoonotic (affects people and other mammals). I know we had some problems with it at the dairy. It is shed through feces so prevention is key. Good sanitation and general herd management practices work best. They can pick it up form others and it can also be found in the soil.

Once they have it they have it....you treat by giving supportive care such as electrolytes and some additives for energy. One of the biggest problems is the damage it causes makes absorption of the good stuff (like electros and forms of energy such as glucose) hard as it damages the stomach lining. There are products to aid in absorption when a calf has this...However, it is not recoomended that you give it withour first having your vet determine that is the actuall cause of sickness. If you have a sick calf and think it has a protozoa but it actually has a bacterium or a toxin such as Clostridium causing the illness...giving something to aid gut absorption will allow these nasties to be absorbded better too! Can be challenging if they start to pick up bacterial infections because they are getting weak from the crypto.

Keep em' warm, dry and hydrated. Get fluids in the ASAP. MK

 

[cattleproducer]

it's actually my neighbor that has this, the local vet sent some samples from the calves that were dying and they confirmed it to be crypto. He has been treating the calves with electolytes and nothing has helped, they just die really fast.

This farm has never had any kind of problems with this before, and we were trying to figure out how he got this. We were thinking it was the holstein calf he bought for his cow that lost her calf. do you think the holstein brought something in?

Thank-you SO much for the info..i will be sure to pass it along.

 

[MK]

That Holstien could be the one that introduced it. Not really sure. It is a naturally occuring organism and there are other possibilities....it can lay dormant in the soil for a year, maybe longer. How big of an operation does he have? What are his options as far as managemnt at this point. If they are all in one area and it is the area where this all started, he should be getting them out of that area. If he can keep the calves that are sick away form healthy ones that would be good too. Keep moving them as the manure starts to build up. As soon as a calf even looks like it is thinking about being sick, start on it with hydration therapy.

It's a shame they are losing them. I wish I could remember the brand name of that absorption supplement.......maybe Deliver? The vet should be up on this. Also he could contact a vet supply business. Search the internet for cattle health supplies...or something like that. Good luck! MK

 

[cattleproducer]

He has 200 cows and maybe 400 feeder calves.

He sorted out the pregnant cows in a seperate field so when they calve they will be away from the sick ones. Hopefully this will help. He has been giving electolytes as soon as he notices them but it doesn't help, they just die. He saved one and it lived for a week and just died today! It's aweful!

Thanks again for the info, I will look that up.

Wyatt

 

[MK]

Sounds like he is doing what he can....If they appear to be dying form dehydration that absorption supplement might do the trick. I wonder if a little pepto wouldn't help ease any discomfort and maybe give them some fight.

One more thing...I am curious about what advice his vet gave him?MK

 

[Dee]

wash up good yourself, it is very contagious, and you'll be the next with the scours

 

[cattleproducer]

Sounds like he is doing what he can....If they appear to be dying form dehydration that absorption supplement might do the trick. I wonder if a little pepto wouldn't help ease any discomfort and maybe give them some fight.

One more thing...I am curious about what advice his vet gave him?MK

I will definitley let him know about the absorption supplement. Thanks. Apparently, the vet told him there is nothing you can do but keep away the cows that haven't calved yet. and just keep drenching them with electrolytes but that doesn't help anyway.

So, can the cows pick this up and next year pass it on to their calves? or does it just live in the soil and it passes this way?

 

[Carrie]

CP,
The oocysts (infectious stage) appear in the manure at the onset of symptoms and are immediately infectious. They continue to be excreted for several weeks after symptoms disappear. Outside the body, these little buggers can remain infective for 2 to 6 months in a moist environment and are pretty resistant to most chemical disinfectants. Nasty stuff!

 

[Chuck]

CP,
The oocysts (infectious stage) appear in the manure at the onset of symptoms and are immediately infectious. They continue to be excreted for several weeks after symptoms disappear. Outside the body, these little buggers can remain infective for 2 to 6 months in a moist environment and are pretty resistant to most chemical disinfectants. Nasty stuff!

They seem to have a hard shell that helps protect them from disinfectants. It takes a pretty good shot of bleach to kill them,even then,no guarantees in a moist area. Part of my townie job is operation of a commercial swimming pool. This stuff will make you have nightmares.