TY - JOUR
T1 - Serological evaluation of precolostral serum samples to detect Bovine viral diarrhea virus infections in large commercial dairy herds
AU - Schefers, Jeremy
AU - Munoz-Zanzi, Claudia
AU - Collins, James E.
AU - Goyal, Sagar M.
AU - Ames, Trevor R.
PY - 2008/9/1
Y1 - 2008/9/1
N2 - The authors propose that screening newborn calves for Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) antibody prior to colostrum feeding is a useful strategy to detect herds with endemic BVDV infection. In the current study, precolostral serum samples of newborn calves in 2 Minnesota and 2 California dairy farms were examined. Precolostral BVDV antibodies were detected by serum neutralization and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 7.4% (33/446) and 6.2% (32/515) of newborn calves in the California and Minnesota herds, respectively. The serum samples were also tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and BVDV was detected in 1.6% (7/446) and 3.5% (18/515) of newborn calves in the California and Minnesota herds, respectively. The primary advantages of precolostral testing are that calves congenitally infected with BVDV and seropositive at birth represent a larger percentage of calves born than BVDV-viremic calves and that fewer animals would need to be tested with an antibody test than a RT-PCR or antigen detection test to detect endemic BVDV infections at the herd level. Testing for BVDV antibody in calves prior to colostrum feeding detects fetal infections in both late-gestating cows and nonlactating heifers. Precolostral serum antibody detection is not confounded by vaccination and may be a more sensitive screening method than bulk milk RT-PCR and nonvaccinated sentinel calf strategies in large dairy herds.
AB - The authors propose that screening newborn calves for Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) antibody prior to colostrum feeding is a useful strategy to detect herds with endemic BVDV infection. In the current study, precolostral serum samples of newborn calves in 2 Minnesota and 2 California dairy farms were examined. Precolostral BVDV antibodies were detected by serum neutralization and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 7.4% (33/446) and 6.2% (32/515) of newborn calves in the California and Minnesota herds, respectively. The serum samples were also tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and BVDV was detected in 1.6% (7/446) and 3.5% (18/515) of newborn calves in the California and Minnesota herds, respectively. The primary advantages of precolostral testing are that calves congenitally infected with BVDV and seropositive at birth represent a larger percentage of calves born than BVDV-viremic calves and that fewer animals would need to be tested with an antibody test than a RT-PCR or antigen detection test to detect endemic BVDV infections at the herd level. Testing for BVDV antibody in calves prior to colostrum feeding detects fetal infections in both late-gestating cows and nonlactating heifers. Precolostral serum antibody detection is not confounded by vaccination and may be a more sensitive screening method than bulk milk RT-PCR and nonvaccinated sentinel calf strategies in large dairy herds.
KW - Bovine viral diarrhea virus
KW - Dairy herd
KW - Herd-level screening
KW - Precolostral serum antibody
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U2 - 10.1177/104063870802000515
DO - 10.1177/104063870802000515
M3 - Article
C2 - 18776097
AN - SCOPUS:55449103776
SN - 1040-6387
VL - 20
SP - 625
EP - 628
JO - Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
JF - Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
IS - 5
ER -