Colostral immunity against salmonella infection in calves

Abstract

Abstract Extract A slaughterhouse survey (Nottingham and Urselmann, 1961 Nottingham, P. M. and Urselmann, A. J. 1961. Salmonella infection in calves and other animals. N.Z. J. agric. Res., 4: 449–460. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) demonstrated that salmonellae could be recovered from 6.3% of faecal samples of spring born calves slaughtered within a few days of birth. From 1964 to 1967 inclusive, a large sample (7,696) of spring born calves, from a randomly-selected group of dairy properties in a single area, has been examined for excretion of salmonellae prior to leaving the farm. Salmonella organisms were recovered from 4.3%, 1%, 1.7% and 0.3% of faecal samples, respectively, for the above years (Robinson, 1966a Robinson, R. A. 1966a. Field and experimental epidemiology of salmonella infection in calves. Proc. N.Z. Soc. Anim. Prod., 26: 134–144. [Google Scholar]; R. A. Robinson & W. A. Royal, unpubl. data). A smaller sample (371) of autumn born calves from another district, examined in 1965 and 1966, revealed that 7.4% and 11%, respectively, of animals were excreting salmonellae in the faeces.