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Techniques for monitoring dairy calves against the tick fever agents: a comparative analysis

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Abstract

Data regarding parasitemia (blood smears), rectal temperature (RT), packed cell volume (PCV) and vaginal mucosa coloration (VMC) of Gyr x Holstein female calves between 3-7mo were accessed to evaluate different techniques for monitoring the bovine tick fever agents (TFA). The 1st experiment determined the correlation between the TFA parasitemia with RT and PCV. The 2nd, evaluated the associated risk of A. marginale parasitemia with RT and PCV in relation to the Gyr/Holstein genetic proportion (5/8,3/4,7/8 and 15/16) using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (ROC). The 3rd, two groups were performed: cattle monitored by RT (T01) and by PCV (T02), during their 80–210 days of age, data regarding TFA parasitemia, RT, PCV, VMC and weight were registered. In 1st experiment, RT showed weak correlation with TFA parasitemia, while PCV showed a strong correlation with A. marginale and B. bigemina, but not with B. bovis parasitemia. In experiment 2, the ROC curve analysis showed that when the genetic proportion of B. t. taurus increased, least reliable RT was to monitor calves infected with A. marginale. The PCV for monitoring A. marginale was the best technique, showing sensitivity of 74.2% and specificity of 97.0% than other techniques that used RT and VCM as a monitoring tool. In general, calves monitored by PCV (T02) showed higher PCV values, lower A. marginale parasitemia, less pneumonia as co-infection and less salvation treatment were performed than in animals monitored by RT (T01). Furthermore, animals from T02 gained 23.5 kg more than those from T01. The low frequency of B. bovis and B. bigemina found in this study made impossible to compare the monitoring techniques for these pathogenic agents.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the owners, José Renato Chiari and Felipe Domingos Chiari, and the employees of the São Caetano farm. José Renato Chiari was responsible for idealizing the PCV for monitoring the tick fever in dairy calves in Brazil. We would also like to thank Ronaldo Pérez Carvalho, owner of Vale da Pedra farm and your employees; the resident in veterinary medicine Nathasha Freitas Marcelino for carrying out the diagnosis of pneumonia in animals, and Dr. Henderson Ayres for his help in carrying out the ROC curve analysis.

Funding

This research was funded by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brazil – funding code 001 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Brazil – WDZL scholarship 307552/2017–9.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Parasitologia Veterinária, Escola de Veterinária E Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

    Luciana Maffini Heller, Dina María Beltrán Zapa, Luiz Fellipe Monteiro Couto, Lídia Mendes de Aquino Gontijo, João Eduardo Nicaretta, João Eduardo Nicaretta, Igor Maciel Lopes de Morais, Vanessa Ferreira Salvador, Luccas Lourenzzo Lima Lins Leal, Hariye Victória Iuasse, Caio Marcio de Oliveira Monteiro & Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes

  2. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Lorena Lopes Ferreira

  3. Veterinarian - Scarpa Consultoria Ltda, Goiás, Brazil

    Alexandre Braga Scarpa

  4. Instituto de Pesquisas Desidério Finamor (IPVDF), Eldorado Do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    João Ricardo de Souza Martins

  5. Universidade Brasil, Descalvado, São Paulo, Brazil

    Vando Edesio Soares

  6. Departamento de Biociências E Tecnologia, Instituto de Patologia Tropical E Saúde Pública, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil

    Caio Marcio de Oliveira Monteiro & Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes

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  1. Luciana Maffini Heller
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Contributions

Conceptualization: JRSM, WDZL; Methodology: ABS, JRSM, VES, WDZL; Investigation: ABS, LMH, DMBZ, LFMC, LMAG, JEN, IMLM, VFS, LLLLL, HVI; Data curation: LMH, WDZL; Formal analysis: VES; Writing—original draft preparation: CMOM, LLF, WDZL; Writing—review and editing: LLF, WDZL; Resources: JRSM, WDZL; Supervision: WDZL.

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Correspondence to Welber Daniel Zanetti Lopes.

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Ethical Statement

The project was approved by the Ethics Committee on the Use of Animals (CEUA) of the Desiderio Finamor Research Institute (IPVDF – protocol number 032/16) and of the Federal University of Goiás (UFG—protocol number 081/17), being in accordance with the ethical principles in animal experimentation (CONCEA, Brazil).

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Heller, L.M., Zapa, D.M.B., Couto, L.F.M. et al. Techniques for monitoring dairy calves against the tick fever agents: a comparative analysis. Vet Res Commun 46, 879–902 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-022-09915-6

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