Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is a disease of cattle that is still widespread in this country causing massive economic losses. It is estimated that 90% of herds have been exposed to BVD, with an estimated cost of £13-£31 per cow on farm.

The most likely diseases to cause scour are the viruses; Rota Virus and Corona Virus along with protozoa; Cryptosporidium and Coccidia and the bacteria; E. coli and Salmonella.  As only two of these causative agents are bacterial, antibiotics are often not required.

The age at which the calf is affected will give an idea of the likely pathogen and therefore appropriate treatment;

"I’m a final year Vet Student at the University of Nottingham, and I’ve just finished a 4 week farm placement with St. Boniface. This was for my farm elective, a higher level placement, which can be undertaken at any XLVets practice  - chosen because they have the facilities and clinical caseload to provide experience of specialist practice.

Don’t rely on Blanket Protection
Often treating animals to prevent infection (such as day old lambs) can be easily avoided with good husbandry.  Antibiotics are no substitute to high hygiene, low stress levels and stocking densities and good colostrum management.

EUROPEAN Antibiotic Awareness week runs from November 16 to November 22 and I am sure you have all seen the media stories, regarding the threat of antibiotic resistance; many of them blaming the use of antibiotics in livestock for the problem.

Whatever the relative risk from human and animal use, all sectors need to be tackling this problem since there is no doubt that the number of antibiotic resistant bacteria are increasing, and if this continues we are heading for a situation where routine operations; such as hip replacements are impossible because of the risk of infection.

There is increasing concern over the appropriate use of antibiotics on farms. Calf pneumonia is an area in which vast improvements can be made.

The most likely agents to cause pneumonia are viruses, namely IBR, BVD, Pi3 and RSV. Invasion of one or more of these viruses allows secondary bacterial infections to proliferate i.e. Mycoplasma bovis, Pastuerella, Mannheimia and Haemophilus. These secondary bacterial infections can be treated using antibiotics.