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Maternal antibody uptake, duration and influence on survival and growth rate in a cohort of indigenous calves in a smallholder farming system in western Kenya

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Title Maternal antibody uptake, duration and influence on survival and growth rate in a cohort of indigenous calves in a smallholder farming system in western Kenya
 
Creator Toye, Philip G.
Handel, I.
Gray, J.
Kiara, Henry K.
Thumbi, S.M.
Jennings, A.
Wyk, I.C. van
Ndila, M.
Hanotte, Olivier H.
Coetzer, K.
Woolhouse, Mark E.J.
Bronsvoort, B.M. de C.
 
Subject farming systems
cattle
immunology
 
Description The passive transfer of antibodies from dams to offspring via colostrum is believed to play an important role in protecting neonatal mammals from infectious disease. The study presented here investigates the uptake of colostrum by 548 calves in western Kenya maintained under smallholder farming, an important agricultural system in eastern Africa. Serum samples collected from the calves and dams at recruitment (within the first week of life) were analysed for the presence of antibodies to four tick-borne haemoparasites: Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bigemina, Theileria mutans and Theileria parva. The analysis showed that at least 89.33% of dams were seropositive for at least one of the parasites, and that 93.08% of calves for which unequivocal results were available showed evidence of having received colostrum. The maternal antibody was detected up until 21 weeks of age in the calves. Surprisingly, there was no discernible difference in mortality or growth rate between calves that had taken colostrum and those that had not. The results are also important for interpretation of serosurveys of young calves following natural infection or vaccination.
 
Date 2013-09
2013-10-01T06:55:45Z
2013-10-01T06:55:45Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Toye, P., Handel, I., Gray, J., Kiara, H., Thumbi, S., Jennings, A., Wyk, I.C. van, Ndila, M., Hanotte, O., Coetzer, K., Woolhouse, M. and Bronsvoort, M. 2013. Maternal antibody uptake, duration and influence on survival and growth rate in a cohort of indigenous calves in a smallholder farming system in western Kenya. Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology 155(1-2): 129-134.
0165-2427
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33730
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetimm.2013.06.003
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-3.0
Open Access
 
Format p. 129-134
 
Publisher Elsevier
 
Source Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology