Oorsig/Review
Ruralvet - IN The real world
CRYPTOSPORIDIUM
Compiled by Mark Chimes BVSc
Ruralvet is a closed informal internet discussion forum for ruminant veterinarians in Southern Africa.
Membership is controlled very strictly. No advertising or promotion of products is allowed on the forum.
The idea of this column is to scour Ruralvets and address a topic of conversation in every issue. There is a
wealth of very valuable practical information being posted on Ruralvets but it is not available in a manner
that is easy to accesss.
This month I have taken the topic of Crypto and searched Ruralvets as far back as 19 June 2012 and collated
all the comments and answers. I decided to break up the answers into specific headings so that relevant
information is grouped together. I have also taken the liberty to correct grammatical errors (typos) and
translate any Afrikaans comments into English. Also, certain paragraphs in the comments that are not
relevant or superfluous to this subject have been deleted and some e-mails were broken up so that each part
of the e-mail is placed under the appropriate heading. The reason being that some people will answer several
questions in one e-mail. Therefor, do not quote the “authors” verbatim from this article since I may have put
words in their mouths. Prior to publication the draft copy is sent to all the “authors” mentioned so that they
can edit or add to their comments.
Editor
HISTORY
NF - 19 June 2012
We have a problem in the Highveld area of
Mpumalanga with diarrhoea in 1-2 month old
calves. These are extensive beef animals and
Bonsmara mostly affected. Preliminary tests
suggest we are dealing with Rota virus infection.
All cows are being vaccinated in late pregnancy
but as soon as colostral immunity wanes, calves
become sick. We would like to confirm our
diagnosis during this next calving season with
more samples
BL - 13 Nov 2012
I have a boergoat kid 1 week old with white-
yellow diarrhoea refractory to sulphas that owner
has treated with. Faecal float negative, faeces
sent for culture. Kid is looking alive again since
started dextrose Ringers drip i/v Augmentin and
Lincospectin- can I start him on his mom's milk
again? He doesn't want electrolytes or water from
bottle. In what instances other than floppy kid
syndrome do I remove mother's milk?
22
BL - 14 Nov 2012
Unfortunately kid died during night - taken for
PM and smears of intestines and histopath as
well as culture to state vet - costs owner less than
sending it privately. As far as vaccination of dams:
Supavax biannually, Corynebact annually, clone
13 annually. As far as exactly how regularly dams
are dewormed I don't know. Cryptosporidium,
I did not think of but will look for thanks Prof
Harmse. This farmer is getting these diarrhoea
cases in young and adult goats recently so I hope
an answer as to cause will come out of this kid so
we can prevent further morbidity and mortalities.
All feed troughs have roofs so goats cannot climb
in.
KR - 13 Jan 2017
One of our clients brought in a friesian calve for
post mortem. We diagnosed Cryptosporidium
on test strips. Negative for rota, corona, E Coli F
5(K99). Awaiting histopath. Does anybody have
experience on Crypto in calves. Does it differ a
lot from coccidiosis? Is there known treatment
implication for milking herd with Crypto