Valutazione dell'efficacia della gamitromicina e della sua associazione con ketoprofene nel controllo della malattia respiratoria nella rimonta del bovino da latte

Introduction - Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a complex syndrome that leads to major health and economic implications not only in beef but also in dairy production. As a matter of fact, BRD is main the cause of death among dairy calves after stillbirth and diarrhea events that generally occur during the first month after calving. Even in excellent management and environmental condition, the movement from single cage to multiple box together with weaning, are unavoidable stressors that can promote BRD occurrence. A correct therapy is therefore essential to limit mortality and relapses, and also to promote a quickly recover in order to reduce the negative effects that the clinical condition plays on longevity and productive performance. Aim - The aim of this work was to evaluate the effectiveness of gamithromycin alone or in association with ketoprofen, in dairy replacement calves affected by BRD. Materials and methods - 185 Holstein Friesian female calves of average age of 69.5 ± 48.6 days, from 17 farms, were included in the trial because affected by BRD. The occurrence and severity of BRD was assessed by the veterinary according to rectal temperature and depression and respiratory characters score. Nasopharyngeal swabs were collected and cultured to confirm the presence of the target BRD pathogens in the study population. At the day of BRD detection, all animals were treated with gamithromycin and half of them also with a single dose of ketoprofen. For the next 5 days, the veterinary performed a daily clinical evaluation to assess the illness course. For the next 15 days after treatment any data related to relapse events or death were collected. Results and discussion - Bacteria such Pasteurella multocida was confirmed to be the main BRD agent in the study population. Gamithromycin was effective in limiting mortality and relapse events. Furthermore promoted the complete recover within 5 days from the treatment in 74.59% of cases and in 97.84% within 15 days. Stratifying the population according to animal age and weight, it was found that younger animals incurred in BRD needed a longer convalescence period. The administration of ketoprofen in association with gamithromycin promoted a significant reduction of BRD severity within 5 days after treatment. Conclusions - Results of this study show that gamithromicyn is an effective antibiotic in managing BRD in dairy replacement calves and its association even with a single dose of ketoprofen can reduce the severity of clinical cases. The treatment, leading to a quickly recover, limiting relapse events and mortality, is also able to limit the economic impact of BRD. An episode of BRD occurred in the first months of life is indeed able to negatively affect longevity and productive performance, and with more severity in case of worse clinical form or relapse.