Alpharma

ISSUE #4

News from the Field

DATELINE : DAIRY

Gut Reaction

FAST FACTS

41 percent of dairy heifer calves and more than 50 percent of dairy bull calves lack adequate serum antibody levels following birth
More than 62 percent of calf mortality is attributed to diarrhea or other digestive maladies
Natural additives such as Beta Mos^TM and Alphamune^® have been shown to a promote a healthier intestinal environment, which helps reduce pressure from enteric disease

What happened to Myron Bonzo was enough to make a grown man cry.

A dairy farmer all his life, Bonzo was running 40 registered Holstein cows and about 45 heifers at his operation, One-O-One Holsteins in Rochester, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles from the Ohio border. His cows averaged 30,000 pounds of milk per year.

Life was good, but then disaster struck.

Bonzo suddenly lost nearly 50 percent of his newborn heifer calves to a devastating pathogen that was later identified as Clostridium perfringens type A, a more aggressive strain of a soil-borne bacterium commonly found on livestock operations.

According to published reports, C. perfringens type A can rapidly produce harmful amounts of toxins in dairy and beef cattle if an intestinal disruption occurs. These toxins can lead to serious and often deadly gastrointestinal diseases, including hemorrhagic bowel syndrome (HBS), which strikes apparently healthy cows without much warning.

Bovine disease specialists report that a fatality rate of 85 percent or higher within the first 24 to 36 hours is not uncommon in dairy herds with HBS. Bonzo thinks the same bug also killed some of his prime breeding stock.

Alarmed at the sight of dying calves, Bonzo immediately sought help from two state universities and eventually sent three calves to Ohio State dairy specialists for evaluation. One calf had just broken with a little bloody manure, but the other two were perfectly healthy.

Uncontrollable tailspin

In the meantime, his entire herd went into an uncontrollable tailspin, with calves bloating and shedding manure with dark red to black clots. For many, death followed shortly thereafter.

"They were born healthy but within 2 to 3 weeks, they would break with this problem and we began to lose a lot of them," he says. "I have no idea how my calves got it, but this Type A is an especially nasty strain and it just about put us out of business."

Bonzo notes that even with an arsenal of antibiotics, antiinflammatories, laxatives and fluids, calves were still succumbing to C. perfringens type A, which made it increasingly difficult to overcome.

"The specialists at the universities couldn’t save my calves," Bonzo says. "One of the calves got 24-hour care and they were all on IVs, but they still didn’t make it."

As a last resort, Bonzo moved his calves into a separate and seemingly secure facility, which no one could enter or leave without boots being scrubbed with a sanitizer. "We also wore plastic gloves, bought new calf buckets and calf jackets to prevent further infection, but it still spread to other parts of the farm," he recalls. "They’d be born healthy, and we’d get them started on corn and think, ‘Okay, this one’s not going to get sick.’ But within 3 or 4 days, they’d decide one morning not to eat and by afternoon they’d be gassed up and down and out."

Exploring new options

Looking to cut his significant losses and explore new options, Bonzo conferred with his nutritional consultant, Paul Colley, who proposed some new ideas for managing the bacterial challenge in the intestinal tracts of his herd.

"Myron has very high-producing cows and has averaged 100 pounds per day across his herd for 10 years or more," Colley says. "We decided that perhaps a different approach, such as boosting their immune system, might help because his cows weren’t responding to typical treatments. So far, this seems to be working."

Colley initially recommended using a natural additive called Beta Mos^TM - a yeast extract of Saccharomyces cerevisiae known to enhance appetite and feed intake - in the milk replacer at a rate of 2 grams (3 scoops) per calf per feeding.

He notes that Beta Mos is a good source of nutrients, including crude protein (20%), and contains beta glucans, which stimulate immunity by binding to specific white blood cells. ‘After adding Beta Mos to the milk replacer, we saw an immediate and lasting improvement in the calves’ Beta Mos also contains a carbohydrate known as mannan oligosaccharides, or MOS, which is extracted from the outer wall of yeast cells. Pathogenic bacteria in the gut are attracted to MOS and, instead of attaching themselves to the intestinal wall lining and multiplying, they readily bind with the carbohydrate and are excreted with the feces - before they can cause problems in young calves. The result is often a healthier intestinal environment with less pressure from enteric disease.

"After adding Beta Mos to the milk replacer, we saw an immediate and lasting improvement in the calves," Bonzo reports.

Motivated by this early success, the Pennsylvania dairyman began using boluses to administer Beta Mos to his mature herd as well, particularly to cows and heifers in early lactation. This, too, yielded an immediate response and death loss dropped to normal levels in both calves and cows. Bonzo has since started using Alphamune^®, a sister product of Beta Mos with a similar mode of action, to the lactation feed. He reports having similar results.

Encouraging results

While the performance of such nutritional additives may vary from herd to herd, studies in Europe and the United States with ruminants, swine, poultry and even companion animals have produced encouraging results.

For example, a study published in the December 2003 Journal of Dairy Science showed that when researchers at Penn State University fed a milk replacer containing MOS, calves showed reduced scouring and better starter feed intake. In fact, calves fed MOS ate even more starter than those fed a milk replacer containing antibiotics.

"No one additive can replace the need for good management and the first-day-of-life protocols for newborn dairy calves," says Dr. Lance Fox, a dairy veterinarian at Alpharma Inc. who has worked extensively with such compounds. "But the research suggests that these additives warrant serious attention by commercial dairy operations."

‘Based on what I’ve seen so far, I think it could be a major contribution to the well-being of dairy cattle’

He notes that 41 percent of dairy heifer calves and more than 50 percent of dairy bull calves in the United States lack adequate serum antibody levels in the first few days of their lives. These numbers, Fox explains, suggest that today’s dairy operations are either not feeding enough colostrum to newborn calves, have poor quality colostrum or are not administering colostrum in a timely manner.

"Over 62 percent of calf mortality is attributed to diarrhea or other digestive maladies," he says, pointing to recent data from USDA’s National Animal Health Monitoring System. "Taking extra measures to assist the young calf with fighting disease and enhancing overall performance is justified. Natural additives such as Beta Mos and Alphamune offer exciting possibilities."

While Fox says Beta Mos and Alphamune are still taking "baby steps," many dairy producers are reporting positive results with these natural additives.

"We set up a field demonstration with Alphamune for two brothers in the Midwest with 1,000 Holstein steers weighing 200 pounds each," said Fox. "These animals had been confirmed positive for enteritis caused by salmonella and E. coli by the local veterinarian."

Half of these steers were given Alphamune in the feed at the rate of 6 grams per head per day. "The health of the treated steers improved to such an extent that the whole herd is now on Alphamune," Fox reports.

So far, so good

Colley, Bonzo’s nutritional consultant, thinks there is still a considerable amount of research required before all of the benefits of such additives are fully understood.

"We need to have some field trials like the ones we have in place now, but in greater numbers," he says. "I’m positive and hopeful that Beta Mos and Alphamune are going to benefit my producers. And if the additives makes them money, I’ll probably continue to recommend their use."

He notes that metabolic disorders are likely to vary from farm to farm. "But based on what I’ve seen so far, I think it could be a major contribution to the well-being of dairy cattle."

Fox also takes a conservative, wait-and-see approach with the natural additives.

‘Look for additives produced in a certified GMP facility and make sure the company provides good technical support’

"These types of products may not always show a benefit and can’t replace good management or judicious usage of field-proven antibiotics for controlling most diseases," adds Alpharma’s Fox. "But if you apply them under the right circumstances, you’re more likely to get favorable results."

He urges producers to be selective when sourcing natural additives. "You always want to make sure that they have a guaranteed analysis," he adds. "Look for additives produced in a certified GMP (good management practices) facility and make sure the company provides good technical support."

GET TO KNOW HBS

Hemorrhagic Bowel Syndrome (HBS) - also known as Jejunal Hemorrhage Syndrome, bloody gut or clostridial enteritis - is a rapidly emerging, highly fatal intestinal disease of adult dairy cows in the United States.

The disease is usually seen in adult dairy cows early in lactation, but cases occasionally occur in late lactation or the dry period. The bug is sporadic on some dairies and omnipresent on others. Either way, it can impact a seemingly healthy herd in short order.

The combined effects of sudden and massive hemorrhage into the small intestine forces cows to become rapidly debilitated. Many are found dead or dying with cool extremities and subnormal rectal temperature resulting from loss of blood into the intestine and resulting shock.

According to a report by Colorado State University, the feces of affected cows is dark, tar-like and may contain dark red to black clots of digested blood. As clots form in the affected segments of the intestine, the intestine may become obstructed, causing some cows to become bloated and show signs of colic. The affected segments of intestine quickly die and will occasionally rupture, invariably resulting in fatal peritonitis.

HBS is difficult to treat. Some veterinarians have tried administering fluids, laxatives, anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics, but in most cases these have proved unsuccessful. Of 22 cows affected with HBS presented to Colorado State’s clinic over a 3-year period, only 6 (27 percent) survived.

"This points to the need for new approaches to HBS therapy," says Alpharma’s Dr. Lance Fox. "By focusing on intestinal health and using supplements to strategically populate the gut with the right balance of bacteria, we can help herds fight off enteric problems before they become serious."