Jolley: Talking With Dr. Joe Dedrickson About Coccidiosis
10/12/2009 09:56AM
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Doing a little fence line weaning this fall? That’s a calf stressor. Loading up your calves and shipping them down the highway? Another calf stressor. Got a bunch of calves that seem to be losing interest in their feed? Maybe showing a little diarrhea? That’s a stressor, too, on your bottom line.
Dr. Joe Dedrickson, associate director, Merial Veterinary Services, said the core of the problem is probably Coccidiosis. Caused by Coccidia, intracellular protozoa that grow in the intestinal cells of all livestock, it’s usually an unnoticed but opportunistic parasite that causes problems when the calf is stressed by processing, weaning, shipping, comingling with other calves or experiencing the usual fall weather changes.
Dr. Dedrickson said “100% of all beef and dairy cattle have some level of coccidian growing in their intestines. Young cattle are more severely affected and adult animals over 2 years rarely show clinical signs.”
Those Fall stressors are unavoidable so Dedrickson suggests an immediate calf management program with a good anticoccidial drug such as Corid.
Starting a program immediately is important said Dedrickson because “95% of the effects are subclinical and only 5% show the short term affects which are the classical diarrhea or diarrhea with blood followed by secondary bacterial infections in both the lungs and intestines.”
Those low-level, often undiagnosed infections never cause the bloody diarrhea that is the most obvious sign of the disease and as a result, the production losses often go unnoticed. The result is Coccidiosis costs the beef and dairy industries about $100 million a year and research shows that a majority of these losses are due to subclinical coccidiosis.
Explaining one of the finer points of a good control program, Dedrickson said “Many people confuse treatment and prevention. I use the term treatment meaning to medicate a calf already showing clinical signs of bloody diarrhea. But it is important to start a prevention program by including a good anticoccidial drug like Corid in the ration or water during times of stress when coccidian are known to be a problem.”
The real costs to a cow/calf operator show up later. “Long term you see lost feed efficiency, rate of gain and total weight gain,” said Dedrickson. “It is very common to see secondary bacterial pneumonia associated with coccidial infections. It has also been shown that even subclinical coccidiosis suppresses the immune system which can reduce the animal’s response to vaccination and secondary disease challenges, resulting in decreased productivity that the calf may not be able to make up.”
Dr. Nels Lindberg, Animal Medical Center, Great Bend, KS, agrees with Dr, Dedrickson. “Coccidiosis is one disease producers should pay extra attention to as calves enter the feeder or stocker phase,” he said. “With coccidiosis, it is important that we knock out the parasite quickly to help avoid the costly effects of the disease. That is why I recommend that calves are given a coccidiostat on arrival, especially in starter yards or yards receiving high-risk or light-weight calves.”
“A calf’s job during the stocker or early feeding phase is to stay healthy and gain efficiently,” added Dedrickson. “Coccidiosis can make both of those things next to impossible.”
“CORID is a convenient option for all producers because it can easily be mixed with any type of drinking system or used as a drench. The in-feed formulation also provides a convenient, user-friendly option as producers can mix it in with the ration or provide it as a top-dress.”
Producers should consult their veterinarian and follow label instructions. For coccidiosis prevention, Dedrickson recommends CORID at the prevention dose rate (5 mg/kg) for 21 consecutive days. If clinical signs of coccidiosis do occur, cattle should be treated with CORID daily for five consecutive days at the treatment dose rate (10 mg/kg) according to the label.
“Cattle can’t fight coccidiosis on their own, so it is important for producers with all types of operations to help cattle defend against this costly disease by using an anti-coccidial drug as part of their regular receiving routine,” Dedrickson said.
Chuck
Jolley is a free lance writer, based in Kansas City, who covers a wide
range of ag industry topics for Cattlenetwork.com and Agnetwork.com.