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Foal diarrhoea between 1991 and 1994 in the United Kingdom associated with Clostridium perfringens, rotavirus, Strongyloides westeri and Cryptosporidium spp.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

T. Netherwood ,
J. L. N. Wood ,
H. G. G. Townsend ,
J. A. Mumford  and
N. Chanter
T. Netherwood
Affiliation:
Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, P.O. Box 5, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7DW
J. L. N. Wood
Affiliation:
Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, P.O. Box 5, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7DW
H. G. G. Townsend
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5B4, Canada
J. A. Mumford
Affiliation:
Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, P.O. Box 5, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7DW
N. Chanter*
Affiliation:
Centre for Preventive Medicine, Animal Health Trust, P.O. Box 5, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 7DW
*
* Author for Correspondence and reprints.
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Summary

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A case control study of foal diarrhoea in the United Kingdom was carried out over a 3-year period. Clostridium perfringens was significantly associated with foal diarrhoea (Odds Ratio (OR) = 3·0), being isolated from 57% of 421 animals with diarrhoea but from only 27% of 223 healthy foals. Also, C. perfringens was significantly associated with fatal diarrhoea (OR = 4·5). About half of diarrhoea with a fatal outcome was attributable to this organism.

The other pathogens significantly associated with diarrhoea were rotavirus (OR = 5·6), Cryptosporidium spp. (OR = 3·2) and the nematode Strongyloides westeri, which was significant only when present in large numbers (> 2000 eggs/g of faeces: OR = 6·1). Salmonella spp. (OR = 14·2) and Cryptosporidium spp. (OR = 3·0) were the only other pathogens associated with fatal illness.

Overall, C. perfringens, rotavirus, and large numbers of Cryptosporidium spp. or S. westeri were isolated from 80% of foals with diarrhoea. Thermophilic Campylobacter spp., Yersinia enterocolitica, Escherichia coli and other parasites were not associated with diarrhoea. Carriage of C. perfringens, rotavirus and Cryptosporidium spp. was significantly greater in healthy foals in contact with cases of diarrhoea than in foals that were not in contact with diarrhoea (P < 0·05). There were no statistical interactions between any of the pathogens associated with diarrhoea although separate cases from one location often involved more than one pathogen.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 117 , Issue 2 , October 1996 , pp. 375 - 383
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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