Pathogen-specific risk factors in acute outbreaks of respiratory disease in calves

Abstract

Respiratory tract infections (bovine respiratory disease) are a major concern in calf rearing. The objective of this study was to identify pathogen-specific risk factors associated with epidemic respiratory disease in calves. A cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 128 outbreaks (29 dairy, 58 dairy-mixed, and 41 beef) in Belgium (2016Belgium ( -2018. A semiquantitative PCR for 7 respiratory pathogens was done on a pooled nonendoscopic bronchoalveolar lavage sample for each herd. Potential risk factors were collected by questionnaire and derived from the national cattle registration databank. Most outbreaks occurred between October and March, and single and multiple viral infections were detected in 58.6% (75/128) and 13.3% (17/128), respectively. Bovine coronavirus (BCV) was the most frequently isolated virus (38.4%), followed by bovine respiratory syncytial virus (bRSV; 29.4%) and parainfluenzavirus type 3 (PI-3; 8.1%). Mycoplasma bovis, Mannheimia haemolytica, Pasteurella multocida, and Histophilus somni were detected in 33.3, 41.2, 89.1, and 36.4% of the herds, respectively. Specific risk factors for BCV detection were detection of M. haemolytica [odds ratio (OR) = 2.8 (95% confidence interval = 1.1-7.5)], increasing herd size [OR = 1.3 (1.0-1.8) for each increase with 100 animals] and detection of BCV by antigen ELISA on feces in calves in the last year [OR = 3.6 (1.2-11.1)]. A seasonal effect was shown for bRSV only {more in winter compared with autumn [OR = 10.3 (2.8-37.5)]}. Other factors associated with bRSV were PI-3 detection [OR = 13.4 (2.1-86.0)], prevalence of calves with respiratory disease [OR = 1.02 (1.00-1.04) per 1% increase], and number of days with respiratory signs before sampling [OR = 0.99 (0.98-0.99) per day increase]. Next to its association with BCV, M. haemolytica was more frequently detected in herds with 5 to 10 animals per pen [OR = 8.0 (1.4-46.9)] compared with <5 animals, and in herds with sawdust as bedding [OR = 18.3 (1.8-191.6)]. Also, for H. somni, housing on sawdust was a risk factor [OR = 5.2 (1.2-23.0)]. Purchase of cattle [OR = 2.9 (1.0-8.0)] and housing of recently purchased animals in the same airspace [OR = 5.0 (1.5-16.5)] were risk factors for M. bovis.This study identified pathogen-specific risk factors that might be useful for the development of customized control and prevention and for the design of decision support tools to justify antimicrobial use by predicting the most likely pathogen before sampling results are available.

Mycoplasma bovis Infections—Occurrence, Diagnosis and Control

“…However, cases of infectious keratoconjunctivitis, suppurative otitis media, meningitis, decubital abscesses, endocarditis and reproductive disorders have been associated with M. bovis [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. Most importantly M. bovis is one of the causes of BRD with other aetiological agents, both bacterial and viral [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Rapid Identification of Mycoplasma bovis Strains from Bovine Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization–Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry after Enrichment Procedure

“…(32). Also, for the prevalence of M. bovis in the population, prior information was available (7,35). This literature information was combined with the best guesses of experts in the field (first author and senior authors).…”

Bovine Respiratory Disease Diagnosis

“…In available studies, pools of samples from 5 animals were shown to improve diagnostic accuracy at the group level. 36,37 The largest disadvantage of PCR is interpretative difficulty, because PCR can identify dead pathogens, opportunists currently not involved in infection, and contaminants, none of which signify a clinically meaningful test result. This disadvantage was shown, for example, for H somni.…”

“…47 Hence, to improve sensitivity of the group diagnosis, the use of PCR on a pooled sample (up to 5 animals) can be considered. 36,37 A pitfall when working with PCR to detect primary pathogens is that vaccine antigen can be detected up to 14 days after intranasal vaccination with a live vaccine, resulting in false-positives. 48…”