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Gastrointestinal nematodes and mineral deficiencies in yearling cattle in Santiago del Estero, northern Argentina

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Abstract

The aims were to study the epidemiology and the effect of gastrointestinal nematodes (GINs) on yearling cattle in a semiarid region in Argentina and to evaluate the mineral serum levels. Ten- to twelve-month-old calves were monitored between November and April 2019. Animals were divided into three groups: untreated control (CONG; n = 20); group treated with moxidectin (MXD, 200 µg/kg) every 30–40 days (MXDG; n = 20); group equally MXD treated and mineral supplementation administered in November and January (MMG; n = 20). Individual GIN egg counts (epg) and fecal cultures were made every 30–40 days. Animal live weight gain was determined. On 7–11-18, 25–1-19, and 3–4-19, serum levels of Se, Cu, Zn, Mg, and Ca were determined by atom absorption spectrophotometry. At the start of the trial, epg values were low (x̄ = 5.5), which increased only in CONG towards the end of the assay (x̄ = 229). In both GMXD and MMG, epg remained very low (x̄ = 4.1). Cooperia spp. (81%) prevailed over Haemonchus spp. (9%) and Oesophagostomum spp. (9%). Deficiency of Se ranged between marginal and important, except for MMG, although mean values were always below normal. Cu was marginally deficient in CONG and MXDG on the first two sampling dates, whereas MMG had normal values after treatment. Mg had low values in the three groups (x̄ = 1.5 mg/dl), whereas Ca and Zn exhibited normal values. Live weight gain (LWG) was higher in MMG than in MXDG, with significant differences (p < 0.05) by mid-January and then, when epg increased, dewormed groups showed higher LWG (p < 0.034) than CONG. A negative effect of GINs on LWG was observed, as well as low to marginal levels of Se, Cu, and Mg.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the ranch owner Sebastián Lizarraga for their kind hospitality and for providing the opportunity of working with his cattle herd. We also thank Salvador Vitriu for field sampling supervision and the staff of the ranch for their collaboration in the animal management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group of Livestock Production, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta, INTA, RN 68, km 172, 4403, Cerrillos, Salta, Argentina

    Victor Humberto Suarez, Gabriela Marcela Martínez & Leandro Hipólito Olmos

  2. Group of Animal Health, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis, INTA, RN 7 y 8, D5730, Villa Mercedes, San Luis, Argentina

    Carlos Esteban Rossanigo

Authors
  1. Victor Humberto Suarez
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  2. Gabriela Marcela Martínez
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  3. Leandro Hipólito Olmos
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  4. Carlos Esteban Rossanigo
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Contributions

Victor Humberto Suarez: study conception, design, work supervision, data collection, material preparation, analysis, and writing-original draft preparation.

Gabriela Marcela Martinez: data collection, work supervision, writing-review.

Leandro Hipólito Olmos: data collection, processing and analysis of fecal samples, writing-review.

Carlos Esteban Rossanigo: processing and analysis of serological samples to determine minerals, review.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Victor Humberto Suarez.

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Ethics approval

The procedures adopted has been approved by the Ethical Review Committee (CICUAE: Institutional Committee of Care and Use of Experimental Animals) of the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA).

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All authors read and approved the final manuscript to be published and our institution, the Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, consents to publish the manuscript.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Suarez, V.H., Martínez, G.M., Olmos, L.H. et al. Gastrointestinal nematodes and mineral deficiencies in yearling cattle in Santiago del Estero, northern Argentina. Trop Anim Health Prod 54, 94 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-022-03094-x

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