Enteritis In Calves Research Articles

Toxinotype VClostridium difficilein Humans and Food Animals

Clostridium difficile is a recognized pathogen in neonatal pigs and may contribute to enteritis in calves. Toxinotype V strains have been rare causes of human C. difficile-associated disease (CDAD). We examined toxinotype V in human disease, the genetic relationship of animal and human toxinotype V strains, and in vitro toxin production of these strains. From 2001 through 2006, 8 (1.3%) of 620 patient isolates were identified as toxinotype V; before 2001, 7 (<0.02%) of approximately 6,000 isolates were identified as toxinotype V. Six (46.2%) of 13 case-patients for whom information was available had community-associated CDAD. Molecular characterization showed a high degree of similarity between human and animal toxinotype V isolates; all contained a 39-bp tcdC deletion and most produced binary toxin. Further study is needed to understand the epidemiology of CDAD caused by toxinotype V C. difficile, including the potential of foodborne transmission to humans.

A possible role for Clostridium difficile in the etiology of calf enteritis

Clostridium difficile was investigated as a possible cause of enteritis in calves. The organism and its toxins (TcdA and TcdB), respectively, were found in 25.3% and 22.9% of stool samples from diarrheic calves. Culture positive samples were more likely than culture negative samples to be toxin positive. However, toxin positive stools were more common among nondiarrheic calves, but diarrheic calves were nearly twice as likely to be culture positive. Ribotype 078 was dominant among isolates. Salmonella sp. was isolated from both diarrheic and nondiarrheic calves, but large numbers of E. coli were found more commonly in diarrheic calves than in nondiarrheic animals. Prevalence rates for coronavirus and Cryptosporidium sp. were substantially higher in nondiarrheic calves than in diarrheic, but rates of detection of rotavirus and Giardia sp. were more nearly equal between groups. Lesions in naturally infected calves included superficial mucosal erosion with associated fibrinous exudates. Neutrophils and eosinophils infiltrated lamina propria. Large Gram-positive rods morphologically compatible with C. difficile were abundant in the colonic lumen and the organism was isolated by bacteriologic culture. Toxins were found throughout the colon. Purified toxins A and B (individually and conjointly) caused comparable lesions, as well as fluid accumulation, in ligated intestinal loops. Our findings are in substantial agreement with those of others [Rodriguez-Palacios, A., Stampfli, H.R., Duffield, T., Peregrine, A.S., Trotz-Williams, L.A., Arroyo, L.G., Brazier, J.S., Weese, J.S., 2006. Clostridium difficile PCR ribotypes in calves, Canada. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 12, 1730–1736; Porter, M.C., Reggiardo, C., Bueschel, D.M., Keel, M.K., Songer, J.G., 2002. Association of Clostridium difficile with bovine neonatal diarrhea. Proc. 45th Ann. Mtg. Amer. Assoc. Vet. Lab. Diagn., St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.] and add strength to a working hypothesis that C. difficile infection and the accompanying intoxication can manifest as diarrhea in calves. It seems clear that calves serve as multiplying hosts for this organism.

La réhydratation du veau : présentation d'un système expert

En plus de la déshydratation, l’entérite diarrhéique du veau est généralement associée à des déséquilibres hydro-électrolytiques et acido-basiques. L’évaluation de ces troubles par la mesure du pH sanguin et des concentrations sériques de Na+, K+, C1-, HCO3 -, et par le calcul du trou anionique (concentration sérique des cations diminuée de celle des anions) et de l’excès de base, permet d’ajuster au mieux le traitement et de préciser le pronostic. Le déséquilibre le plus fréquemment observé est l’acidose avec ou sans augmentation du trou anionique selon l’étiologie de la diarrhée. L’acidose est corrigée par l’administration de solutés bicarbonatés ou de carbonates. Les autres troubles moins fréquents sont l’alcalose et les dyskaliémies. Un système expert, sous forme d’un protocole clinique et thérapeutique, a été développé pour évaluer les troubles acido-basiques et hydro-ioniques associés aux entérites diarrhéiques du veau.

Clostridium perfringens type E enteritis in calves: two cases and a brief review of the literature

Toxigenic types of Clostridium perfringens are important causes of enteric disease in domestic animals, although type E is putatively rare, appearing as an uncommon cause of enterotoxemia of lambs, calves, and rabbits. We report here two geographically distinct cases of type E enterotoxemia in calves, and diagnostic findings which suggest that type E may play a significant role in enteritis of neonatal calves. The cases had many similarities, including a history of diarrhea and sudden death, abomasitis, and hemorrhagic enteritis. In both cases, anaerobic cultures of abomasum yielded heavy growth of C. perfringens genotype E. Four percent of > 1000 strains of C. perfringens from cases of enteritis in domestic animals were type E, and all ( n=45) were from neonatal calves with hemorrhagic enteritis. Furthermore, type E isolates represented nearly 50% of all isolates submitted from similar clinical cases in calves. Commercial toxoids available in North America have no label claims for efficacy against type E infections. Consideration should be given to type E-associated enteritis when planning for the health care of calves.

Salmonella-induced cell death is not required for enteritis in calves.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium causes cell death in bovine monocyte-derived and murine macrophages in vitro by a sipB-dependent mechanism. During this process, SipB binds and activates caspase-1, which in turn activates the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta through cleavage. We used bovine ileal ligated loops to address the role of serovar Typhimurium-induced cell death in induction of fluid accumulation and inflammation in this diarrhea model. Twelve perinatal calves had 6- to 9-cm loops prepared in the terminal ileum. They were divided into three groups: one group received an intralumen injection of Luria-Bertani broth as a control in 12 loops. The other two groups (four calves each) were inoculated with 0.75 x 10(9) CFU of either wild-type serovar Typhimurium (strain IR715) or a sopB mutant per loop in 12 loops. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections were scored for inflammation, and terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells were detected in situ. Fluid accumulation began at 3 h postinfection (PI). Inflammation was detected in all infected loops at 1 h PI. The area of TUNEL-labeled cells in the wild-type infected loops was significantly higher than that of the controls at 12 h PI, when a severe inflammatory response and tissue damage had already developed. The sopB mutant induced the same amount of TUNEL-positive cells as the wild type, but it was attenuated for induction of fluid secretion and inflammation. Our results indicate that serovar Typhimurium-induced cell death is not required to trigger an early inflammatory response and fluid accumulation in the ileum.

Oral bovine serum concentrate improves cryptosporidial enteritis in calves and contains active growth factors

Oral bovine serum concentrate improves cryptosporidial enteritis in calves and contains active growth factors

Oral bovine serum concentrate improves cryptosporidial enteritis in calves and contains active growth factors

Oral bovine serum concentrate improves cryptosporidial enteritis in calves and contains active growth factors

Contribution of Salmonella typhimurium virulence factors to diarrheal disease in calves.

Limited knowledge is available about the virulence mechanisms responsible for diarrheal disease caused by Salmonella typhimurium. To assess the contribution to diarrheal disease of virulence determinants identified in models of infection, we tested a collection of S. typhimurium mutants for their ability to cause enteritis in calves. S. typhimurium strains carrying mutations in the virulence plasmid (spvR), Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) (spiB), or SPI-5 (sopB) caused mortality and acute diarrhea in calves. An S. typhimurium rfaJ mutant, which is defective for lipopolysaccharide outer core biosynthesis, was of intermediate virulence. Mutations in SPI-1 (hilA and prgH) or aroA markedly reduced virulence and the severity of diarrhea. Furthermore, histopathological examination of calves infected with SPI-1 or aroA mutants revealed a marked reduction or absence of intestinal lesions. These data suggest that virulence factors, such as SPI-1, which are required during intestinal colonization are more important for pathogenicity in calves than are genes required during the systemic phase of S. typhimurium infection, including SPI-2 or the spv operon. This is in contrast to the degree of attenuation caused by these mutations in the mouse.

Group A Rotavirus as a Cause of Neonatal Calf Enteritis in Sweden

Faeces samples were collected during outbreaks of neonatal calf diarrhoea in 14 beef and dairy herds. Samples from 33 calves were taken at the onset of diarrhoea as well as from 30 calves with no signs of enteritis. No vaccines or medical treatment had previously been given. The mean age of the calves was 16.8 days (SD 8.2). The clinical evaluation of faeces consistency corresponded well to the dry matter content of the faeces (p < 0.001). The samples were analyzed for rotavirus, Cryptosporidium species and Escherichia coli K99+. Group A rotavirus was detected by ELISA and RNA polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (RNA-PAGE) in 14/33 (43.8%) of the samples from scouring calves and 1/30 (3.7%) of the samples from non-scouring calves. The correlation between group A rotavirus and diarrhoea was statistically significant (p < 0.001). No non-group A rotaviruses were found by RNA-PAGE. Cryptosporidium species were detected through demonstration of oocysts in smears from 12/63 (19.0%) of the faecal samples, but no statistically significant correlation between diarrhoea and detection of oocysts was demonstrated. Escherichia coli K99+ was not detected in any faeces sample. The clear association between group A rotavirus and diarrhoea is suggested to be due to low pathogenic load in the herds.

Further cases of necrotic enteritis in calves

Further cases of necrotic enteritis in calves

Identification of the K99 (F5) fimbrial adhesin in commercial vaccines used against calf enteritis

A monoclonal antibody (Mab)-based antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed and standardised for the detection of the K99 adhesin of Escherichia coli in aqueous vaccines. A repeating epitope on the K99 antigen is first captured then detected using peroxidase-labelled antibody. The assay gave positive results with all the vaccines tested that were known to contain K99 and was specific, rapid and reproducible.

Molecular biology of Crohn's disease mycobacteria

A Glasgow surgeon, T. K. Dalziel, published a detailed description of chronic enteritis in humans in 1913. He proposed that the disease was caused by the same organisms as those responsible for chronic enteritis, Johne's disease, in animals described a few years earlier (1895). Dalziel's dilemma was that he could see acid-fast bacilli in the diseased animal tissues but not in the diseased human tissues. Little real progress in the medical understanding of the causes of chronic enteritis in humans occurred over the next half a century or more. From 1978, a decade of research in many laboratories using improved methods for the culture of environmental mycobacteria showed that these could be grown in bacillary form from about one in five cases of Crohn's disease, from the same proportion of cases of ulcerative colitis, and from about one in ten control tissues. Spheroplasts were grown from two in five cases of Crohn's disease, one in five cases of ulcerative colitis, and rarely from control tissues. The nature of these agents was often uncertain. We describe work which began in 1985 and led rapidly to the identification of IS900, a DNA repetitive element in an uncharacterized Crohn's disease mycobacterial isolate. With other isolates, these were then shown by DNA fingerprinting to be indistinguishable from Mycobacterium paratuberculosis, Johne's bacillus. Similar techniques also demonstrated the wood-pigeon strain of M. avium in some Crohn's disease cultures. This bacillus can also cause chronic enteritis in calves. IS900 is the first of a family of unusual DNA insertion sequences which extend widely throughout environmental mycobacteria. Use of assays based on PCR amplification of highly specific DNA sequences from these insertional elements, and recombinant and synthetic peptides from their predicted proteins, will revolutionize the detection and characterization of these agents. These methods, applied to animal, human and environmental samples, will indicate new ways for the prevention and treatment of chronic enteritis, as well as other disorders associated with infections by environmental mycobacteria.

Diagnostic Investigation of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Infection in a Minnesota Dairy Herd

Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) virus infection was diagnosed in neonatal calves with enteritis. Successful diagnostic procedures included direct immunofluorescence of frozen tissue sections, histopathology, and virus isolation. Virus isolation from buffy coats and serum was successful in detecting infected animals, whereas direct immunofluorescence of buffy coat samples was found to be less reliable. Virus was not isolated from any fecal samples. Booster vaccinations and the culling of animals shedding virus resulted in improved calf viability in this herd. It is suggested that procedures for the diagnosis of BVD virus infection should always be included in the diagnosis of neonatal calf enteritis.

Exacerbation of experimental parvoviral enteritis in calves by coccidia and weaning stress

The disease induced in calves following oral dosing with bovine parvovirus (BPV) was found to be substantially exacerbated when the animals had subclinical coccidiosis. Low levels of passive serum antibody appeared to have little influence on the response to BPV. Imposition of weaning stress on coccidia-infected calves which had apparently recovered from prior infection with BPV, was found to induce severe diarrhoea with recrudescence of BPV excretion in faeces. This was in marked contrast to the relatively mild diarrhoea which was found following weaning of control animals and animals infected with either agent alone. It was concluded that BPV activity and damage in the intestinal tract was probably enhanced as a consequence of the extra mitotic activity induced in the region by coccidial infection and the local effects of weaning. On the basis of these and previous findings in the field, it is suggested that BPV may play a significant role in the aetiology of post-weaning diarrhoea in calves.

Pathological and virological studies of experimental parvoviral enteritis in calves

Calves held in isolation showed a progressive decline in maternally derived antibody titres to bovine parvovirus but low concentrations of inhibitors resistant to heat and kaolin treatment persisted as the animals matured. These inhibitors had both haemagglutination inhibition and plaque neutralising activity and were considered to be of non-specific origin. Following oral challenge with bovine parvovirus, calves developed mild to moderate diarrhoea, with lymphopenia and viraemia. Sequential virological and immunofluorescent studies showed that the virus initially infected tonsils and intestinal tract, subsequently spreading to systemic lymphoid tissues. Histological and scanning electron microscopic examinations revealed moderate small intestinal villus atrophy and fusion due to crypt damage, together with lymphoid necrosis predominantly associated with the intestinal tract and thymus. Although the disease was not very severe, this may have been because the low parasite burden in the animals reduced mitotic activity in susceptible tissues.

Production of enteritis in calves by the oral inoculation of pure cultures of Campylobacter fecalis.

Pure cultures of an isolate of Campylobacter fecalis obtained from an abomasal lesion in an 18-month-old heifer were used to infect calves in two experiments. Three milk fed calves were infected in experiment 1 and the clinical features noted included mild changes in faecal consistency. In experiment 2, three ruminating calves were infected and blood and mucus were seen in the faeces but faecal consistency remained firm or soft and no diarrhoea was noted. Rectal temperatures in the infected animals were not consistently elevated and C fecalis was isolated from the faeces of all infected animals in the two experiments but not from those of the five control animals. Mild abomasitis and ileitis were noted in all six infected animals. The mesenteric lymph nodes were pale and enlarged. C fecalis was recovered from the ileum, caecum, colon and gall bladder of all infected animals, from the abomasum and jejunum in most and from the livers of three animals. It was never recovered from any of the control animals. The findings are considered to indicate that C fecalis is a primary pathogen of cattle.

An oxygenation-perfusion method for in vitro transport studies on the intestines of large mammals.

The design and construction of an oxygenation-perfusion apparatus, used in a study on neonatal enteritis in calves, as well as the experimental procedure employed, are illustrated and described. The method provides a means of quantitating net directional transport or absorption of perfusion solvent and solutes across the intestinal walls of large mammals. Further, it provides for a controlled rate of flow of perfusion fluid through the intestinal segment. Essentially, the method consists of independent mucosal and serosal systems, both bathed by a modified Krebs-Ringer solution and both continuously oxgenated. A peristaltic pump controls the circulation rate of the mucosal solution. The serosal solution may be either constantly mixed by gas pressure or circulated by another pump. Provisions for convenient sampling and for rapid apparatus assembly and disassembly are provided. The method was successfully used with 33 intestinal segments without apparent tissue damage after 75 minutes of experimentation.