Oral and Poster Abstracts

norovirus may explain some of the discrepancies in detection rates
from previous studies and shed light on some epidemiological
aspects of bovine norovirus infections that have until now been
elusive.
Key words: Bovine norovirus, SYBR Green 1-based real-time RT-
PCR, diagnostics, genotype prediction
1048 Congenital Anophthalmia – Case Report
K. Madureira, V. Gomes, M. Ramalho
Faculdades Anhanguera, Medicina Veterinária, Leme, Brazil
On October 10th, 2006, a 3-day old, Nellore bovine with white hair
was admitted into the Department of Large Animal Clinical Practice
and Surgery, at the Veterinary Hospital - Centro Universitário
Anhanguera/ UNIFIAN - Leme. The animal came from a farm
located in the countryside of the state of Sao Paulo, where extensive
breeding was adopted. When admitted in the Hospital, it was
observed that the animal lacked an eyeball and the tail. At the
clinical examination, it was observed that the animal was severely
prostrated, because it had not ingested any collostrum. Clinical
examination also assessed heart rate (124 beats per minute),
respiratory rate (52 movements per minute) and temperature (37.0
°C). the animal was thin, its apparent mucous membranes were
slightly pale, and clinical examination of the lymphnodes did not
show any abnormalities. The animal showed an altered position of
the anus, which was almost horizontal, and caused the contamination
of the vulva with faces. The absence of the eyeball was assessed by
palpation, once the animal showed eyelashes and palpebral reflexes.
The animal was treated by fluid therapy, once it was dehydrated and
hypoglycaemic. However, it died on the next day, and it was
necropsied. It was observed that the animal lacked the eyeball, and
the site was filled with connective tissue. The orbit was normal. The
animal also showed cleft palate and absence of tail. Anus, rectum,
vagina and uterus were present and in normal positions. Based on the
findings of the physical examination and necroscopic examination, it
was diagnosed that the animal showed congenital anophthalmia, tail
agenesis and cleft palate.
Key words: bovine, anophthalmia, agenesis
1049 Botulism in Dairy Cattle Herd with Atypical Course of
Disease
K. Lutnicki, J. Marczuk, L. Kurek
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Lublin, Department of Internal
Medicine of Farm Animals and Horses, Lublin
Neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum cause botulism, a
fatal disease of humans and animals, among which the ruminants and
horses are most sensitive. Botulism can arise from preformed toxin,
wound infection or intestinal toxic-infection. Among the great
amount of exotoxins which are produced by Cl. botulinum only the
B, C and D types are responsible for cattle morbidity. Botulinum
toxins in cattle are very difficult to identify because this origin may
be sensitive to levels below the detection, so in some countries cattle
is routinely vaccinated against type C and D. Acute botulinum
intoxication was observed in Holstein-Frezian dairy cow herd of 80
adult cows, 30 heifers (10-12 months) and 15 calves, which were fed
a TMR that consisted of haylage, maize silage, green forage.
Material and Methods: The group containing 15 heifers and 4 dry
cows (15.2% of whole herd) showed botulism signs, confirmed by
serologic tests; no calves or cows in lactation were affected. Treatment
was ineffective. There were haematological and biochemical analyses
performed.
Results: The sick animals exhibited only the increase in
polymorphonuclear granulocytes concentration (mean 58%), which
correlated with increased plasma AST (mean 311.9 U/l), CPK (mean
2204.2 U/l) and total bilirubin (mean 8.54 umol/l) concentrations.
Estimated plasma ion levels (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K) were normal, no
significant changes were observed in comparison to healthy animals.
There were high Cu (29.02umol/l) ion levels and low Fe (10.9umol/l)
concentrations in affected dry dairy cows.
Conclusions: There is a great body of evidence that lactating dairy
cows are more resistant and did not develop clinical signs of
botulism as easily as the other cattle. Despite the well expressed
typical clinical signs of botulism in affected animals, estimated ions
concentration of both calcium and sodium in plasma were not
changed during the first period of illness in comparison to healthy
ones. Obtained results and bibliographic data indicated that liver
dysfunction can play the role in pathogenesis of cattle botulism.
1050 Monitoring Immunoglobulin Status of Newborn Calves
Using Different Immunoassays
K. Szabó-Ari 1 , Cs. Bajcsy 1 , I. Kacskovics 2 , I. Mádl 3 , L. Takács 3 ,
O. Szenci 1
1 Szent István University Faculty of Veterinary Science, Clinic for
Large Animals, Üllô, Hungary
2 Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Science, Department of
Physiology, Budapest, Hungary
3 Agroprodukt Co., Pápa, Hungary
Ingestion and absorption of colostral immunoglobulins (mainly
IgG1) in newborn calves are essential for reaching an appropriate
immune status during the first weeks of life. Failure of passive
transfer (FPT) occurs when ingestion and absorption of colostral
IgG1 are inadequate and the serum IgG level is below 10.0 g/L.A
number of assays has been used to measure IgG concentration in
colostrum and serum of newborn calves. Colostral IgG
concentrations can be measured by different methods, such as by
using a colostrometer, a refractometer, a lateral-flow immunoassay,
a radial immunodiffusion or an ELISA. The following methods can
be used for the determination of serum IgG levels in calves: sodiumsulphite
precipitation test, zinc-sulphate turbidity test,
glutaraldehyde coagulation test, refractometry, lateral-flow
immunoassay, latex agglutination test, simple immunoassay, radial
immunodiffusion, electrophoresis and ELISA. In a field trial, the
IgG concentrations of the colostrum and of the serum from newborn
calves were measured using lateral-flow immunoassay kits (MBC
Midland BioProducts Co, Boone, Iowa, USA). 93.8 % of the
examined 81 colostrum samples, withdrawn from Holstein-Friesian
dairy cows immediately after parturition, contained adequate IgG
concentrations (>50 mg/ml), while 6.2 % had inadequate levels. On
the other hand, only 69.1 % of the 81 one-day-old newborn calves
showed a sufficient uptake (>10 g/L serum IgG1), while 30.9 % of
these calves had FPT, based on the Midland test. IgG concentrations
were measured and the results were evaluated in other 97 serum
samples of one-day-old newborn calves, using a single radial
immunoassay (VMRD, Pullman, WA, USA). Based on the results of
this method, 28 (28.9 %) of these calves had FPT, while 69 (71.1 %)
had adequate immunoglobulin uptake. In 14 of the 28 FPT calves,
diarrhoea or respiratory infection developed within 14 days. From
the 69 calves that had normal IgG levels, only 12 (17.4 %) showed
any symptoms of gastrointestinal or respiratory diseases until Day 14
after birth. The difference between the two groups was statistically
significant (P < 0.01). In conclusion, the different methods used for
the IgG measurements gave similar results (30.9 % vs. 28.9 % FPT)
in two consecutive years, which draws the attention to the
importance of adequate immunoglobulin uptake and continuous
control.
This study was supported by OMFB-173-177/2006.
Key words: calf, immunoglobulin, immunoassay
Calf Physiology, Management and Diseases 245