PREVALENCE OF THE MAIN DIGESTIVE AND RESPIRATORY PATHOGENS IN DAIRY PREWEANED CALVES IN QUÉBEC

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Pneumonia and diarrhea are the two most prevalent diseases in dairy calves. They cause important economical losses from treatment costs, deaths and detrimental impacts on growth and future milk production. They are also an important cause of antimicrobial uses. Calf group housing and group feeding strategies are increasingly being implanted in dairy herds in Québec. However, the perception is that these diseases, mainly pneumonia, are more prevalent in such raising system. Surprisingly, very few data are available on the prevalence of the different known pathogens associated with these diseases in dairy calves in Québec and Canada, and particularly in such raising systems. The objective of this study is to (i) describe the prevalence of these pathogens in dairy calves, (ii) to compare this prevalence before and after the implementation of group housing and group feeding and (iii) to evaluate the antimicrobial drug resistance of the respiratory pathogens. Based on the results of this study, it will be possible to identify new prevention strategies, including new vaccination protocols, that will help producers better prevent these diseases in their herd. The validation of these new vaccination protocols is very likely to be a new application at the Collaborative Research and development Grant in a near future.