Investigation of E. Coli K99 and Rotaviruses Causing Diarrhea in Newborn Calves in The Northwest of Syria

Abstract

 Diarrhea is a common and widespread symptom with multiple causes in calves, especially early ages, which results in affects economic loss and reduced productivity, In addition to the high costs of treatment as a result of the multiplicity and mixing of causes to the veterinarian, and since there was no previous study in the region to identify causes of diarrhea in calves, the Main objective of research is study the prevalence of the most common causes of diarrhea, Escherichia coli K99 and rotaviruses, by using a multiscreen ELISA test, and studying the supposed risk factors that could be related or affect the rate of infection, such as the hygiene of the farm, age category, gender, dystocia and intake of colostrum. Ninetysix fecal samples were collected from calves suffering of diarrhea in study areas. The results showed that the infection rate with E. coli k99 and rotavirus were 1.04% (96/1) for both. Statistically, there was no significant correlation (P>0.05) between infection and risk factors, except the intensive breeding system which has a weak correlation (P=0.05) with E.coli k99 infection and inadequate colostrum intake as a risk factor for Rotavirus infection (P < 0.05)