Calf diphtheria

Calf diphtheria What is calf diphtheria? There are two forms of calf diphtheria. The most common is an acute oral (m

The most common is an acute oral (mouth) infection, usually seen in calves less than 3 months old. The second form is usually seen in older calves and affects the larynx (or voice-box), Both forms are caused by the bacteria Fusobacterium necrophorum, which also causes foul-in-the foot and liver abscesses in older cattle. Clinical Signs
Oral form
Initial presenting sign may just be a swollen cheek

Calf may be otherwise bright and active with no temperature
Examination of the inside of the mouth shows a foul-smelling ulceration and swelling of the cheek
Temperature may be normal at the start
If untreated more signs develop:
High temperature
Coughing
Loss of appetite and depression
Difficulty breathing, chewing and swallowing
Swollen pharyngeal region
Deep ulcers on the tongue, palate, and inside of cheeks
Pneumonia
Usually only a few calves in a batch are infected though outbreaks can occur where hygiene is poor

Laryngeal form:
Coughing : Moist and painful
High temperature
Loss of appetite and depression
Difficult breathing, chewing and swallowing
Pneumonia
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of calf diphtheria is usually based on the clinical signs. For one-off cases rule out other problems such as BVD and foreign bodies by getting your vet to do a thorough oral
examination
Bacteriology can be also useful. A post-mortem can confirm the ulcerative nature of the disease, particularly in calves with the laryngeal form
Treatment
Early prompt treatment is important as early treatment is much more effective
Separate the infected animals and isolate them
Antibiotics and pain killers are effective in most cases
The laryngeal form is much more resistant to treatment. Get veterinary advice
Prevention
Fusobacterium necrophorum is a normal inhabitant of cattle intestines and the environment. Under unhygienic conditions, infection may be spread on feeding troughs and dirty milk buckets. Some of the contributory factors for occurrence of this disease include abrasions in the oral mucosa (such as those from erupting molar teeth), poor nutrition and the presence of other diseases present in young calves. If animals are closely confined, the spread of this infectious disease can be prevented by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting of all calf feeders. Young calves must be examined daily to identify early stages of the disease.

03/02/2023
17/07/2022

There’s no single best way to raise calves. What works on one farm may not be ideal for another farm. But you should have and enforce a newborn protocol and calf care plan that remains consistent from day to day. Proper management can greatly reduce the illness and death rates of calves.
Poor facilities and improper animal care make raising healthy calves impossible. Recognizing this and understanding calf growth, nutrition, health and behavior can help you successfully care for your calves.
The following practices for raising calves can:
Decrease the exposure of calves to disease.
Improve calf health.
Improve calf survival rates.
Improve growth rates.
Calf growth
Use both survival and growth rates to measure calf-raising success. Dairy replacement growth rates ultimately affect the timing of puberty. This affects the age of first freshening and lactation milk production.
Properly raised calves will be healthy and ready to freshen between 22 and 24 months.

01/07/2022

Diagnosis
Unhygienic housing conditions, poor general health, along with clinical signs and signalment of the animal are indicative of the disease.
Thorough oral examination with a gag is required for a definitive diagnosis. Differential diagnoses may include Foot and Mouth Disease Virus, foreign bodies, Papular Stomatitis and BVD mucosal disease. Appearance of the lesions should exclude all of the above differentials.
Treatment and Control
The animal should be isolated from the herd and cross contamination between its and others' feed buckets and equipment should be prevented.
Treatment with anaerobic specific antibiotics should commence immediately, either parenterally or orally for three to five days. In the laryngeal form, treatment should continue for longer.
Control focuses on hygiene with recommendation to disinfect all feed buckets regularly and improve the quality of feed.

01/07/2022

This is a disease associated with Fusobacterium necrophorum, which is a strict anaerobic bacteria found everywhere in the environment. The disease is usually trasmitted by oral ingestion of the bacteria. It is often a secondary invader, meaning prior tissue damage must have to occur for the bacteria to gain entry, however it can be a primary pathogen in some cases. There are two forms of calf diptheria; oral and laryngeal.
Oral form - common yet sporadic in occurrence and is often associated with poor hygiene especially in housed calves that are bucket fed, although it can occur in calves at pasture. Calves are usually less than three months old and the disease is often predisposed to by teeth eruption, rough feed, poor use of dosing gun or presence of a concurrent disease.
Laryngeal form - is less common can be seen in animals of all ages, but particularly calves up to the age of one year.

01/07/2022

Clinical Signs
Swelling of the rostral cheek and salivation are the main clinical signs.
Upon physical examination, there may be a foul smell emitting from the mouth and deep necrotic lesions may be found on the cheek or tongue. These irregular shaped ulcers will be covered by a thick, diphtheritic membrane. In severe cases, sloughing of the tongue may occur.
If the larynx or pharynx are involved, swelling may lead to dyspnoea and the presence of pneumonia. These animals will also be pyrexic. They usually die fairly quickly as exudate may block the airways.

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