The occurrence of diseases and their relationship with passive immune transfer in Holstein dairy calves submitted to individual management in southern Brazil

M.A.A Weiller,D.A Moreira,C.C Brauner,L.B Farias,M.G Lopes,V.R Rabassa,F.R.P Bruhn,F.A.B Del Pino,E Schmitt,L.F Bragança,M.N Corrêa

doi:10.1590/1678-4162-11482

Abstract

ABSTRACT Calves are extremely dependent on colostrum intake for the acquisition of passive immunity. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of diarrhea and respiratory diseases and the impact of Failure of Passive Immune Transfer (FPIT) on the health and zootechnical performance of Holstein dairy calves in individual management. This study has been carried out in five commercial farms in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, from March 2017 to January 2018. In this study, 131 calves were followed from birth to 60 days of age. Total Plasmatic Protein (TPP) has been performed to determine passive immune transfer quality in 53 calves (53/131). A daily clinical follow-up has been accomplished aiming at diagnosing diseases and their incidences, and zootechnical measures such as withers height, width of the croup and weight have been evaluated. FPIT rate was 32.07%, diarrhea occurrence and respiratory diseases were 77.9% and 49.6%, respectively. FPIT increased the chances of calves presenting diarrhea and developing respiratory diseases, but no differences on zootechnical performance were found. The frequency of FPIT is still high and is a factor that corroborated the increased risk for diarrhea and respiratory disease but did not influence the performance of calves in the preweaning phase.

Highlights

Bovine neonates are agammaglobulinemic at birth and are, dependent on absorption of immunoglobulins (Ig) delivered through maternal colostrum (MacFarlane et al, 2015)
When there is an inadequate transfer of Igs through colostrum, it characterizes Failure of Passive Immune Transfer (FPIT); this occurs when serum IgG concentrations are below 10mg/mL in neonates between 1 and 9 days of age (Wilm et al, 2018), or when Total Plasma Protein (TPP) concentrations are below 5.5g/dL between 24 and 48 hours of life (Buczinski et al, 2018)
Total Plasmatic Protein (TPP) values followed by standard error for each of the groups, with FPIT vs. without FPIT, were 4.97±0.08g/dL vs. 6.82±0.16g/dL, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Bovine neonates are agammaglobulinemic at birth and are, dependent on absorption of immunoglobulins (Ig) delivered through maternal colostrum (MacFarlane et al, 2015). The Igs in colostrum (IgG, IgA and IgM) are considered essential for good neonate performance and health, especially in the first month of life (Smolenski et al, 2007). When there is an inadequate transfer of Igs through colostrum, it characterizes Failure of Passive Immune Transfer (FPIT); this occurs when serum IgG concentrations are below 10mg/mL in neonates between 1 and 9 days of age (Wilm et al, 2018), or when Total Plasma Protein (TPP) concentrations are below 5.5g/dL between 24 and 48 hours of life (Buczinski et al, 2018). An adequate transfer of passive immunity is important because calves with FPIT are more susceptible to developing enteric diseases (Lora et al, 2018), and calves which survive are more susceptible to develop other diseases, such as respiratory complex disease, which negatively impact performance and lead to economic losses (Raboisson et al, 2016). Weight gain in dairy cattle is extremely important, since it directly influences the age at first service and subsequently at first calving, impacting animal productivity and profitability (Morrison et al, 2013)

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