Detection of Escherichia coli(K99), Clostridium perfringens and Cryptosporidium parvum in diarrhetic feces of Korean native calves

The prevalence of E. coli (K99), Clostridium perfringens and Cryptosporidium parvum on acute diarrhea in suckling Korean native calves was evaluated in the field by a veterinary practice. In diagnosis, fecal samples were directly collected from calves that had diarrhea between 2 and 98 days of age. 40 samples were analyzed in October, 2006 and December, 2006. Clostridium perfringens and Cryptosporidium parvum were detected in 15 (37.5%) and 4 (10.0%) of the samples from diarrhetic calves, respectively. However, E. coli (K99) was not detected in the samples from diarrhetic calves. There was no significant difference (p> 0.05) between October (5, 25.0%) and December (10, 50.0%) in incidence of detected Clostridium perfringens from diarrhetic calves. On the other hand, significant differences (p<0.05) in the detection rate of Clostridium perfringens were found between the within 1 month age and all other age groups. In the detection of Cryptosporidium parvum, there was no significant difference (p<0.05) between October (2, 10.0%) and December (2, 10.0%) in the incidence of detected Cryptosporidium parvum from diarrhetic calves. These results suggest that causative agents of calf diarrhea occurred frequently with Clostridium perfringens infection than E. coli (K99) and Cryptosporidium parvum.