Preliminary validation of a calf-side test for diagnosis of failure of transfer of passive immunity in dairy calves
In this study, IgG was measured using Triple J Farms' Bovine IgG RID Kit. The following is an excerpt from the publication:
Introduction
Newborn calves are born agammaglobulinemic, without circulating IgG, and they depend on the passive transfer of IgG from maternal colostrum provided within the first hours of life (Smith et al., 1964). Calves that fail to ingest or absorb sufficient colostral IgG, resulting in a serum IgG concentration <1,000 mg/dL, suffer from failure of transfer of passive immunity (FTPI; Vogels et al., 2013).
Failure of transfer of passive immunity in dairy calves is a significant problem (Fecteau et al., 2013) and is considered a predisposing risk factor for most early neonatal infectious disease losses and long-term productivity losses in heifers. Effects of FTPI include decreased milk yield and increased culling rates in first-lactation animals (Tyler et al., 1996b; Godden, 2008). The reported prevalence of FTPI in dairy calves in North America ranged from 19 to 40% (Nocek et al., 1984; Dairy NAHMS; USDA, 2007). Having calves with lower levels of passive immunity has major economic consequences for dairy producers (Trotz-Williams et al., 2008), including reduced calf daily gains (Robison et al., 1988), increased morbidity and mortality, increased production costs, and reduced profitability (Morin et al., 1997; Jaster, 2005). Therefore, monitoring of FTPI rates can identify herd management deficiencies and ensure timely detection and medical interventions, which are important to reduce the risk of associated diseases among calves and the economic impact for dairy producers (Furman-Fratczak et al., 2011)
The objective of this study was to describe the test characteristics of the initial version of a ZAPvet Bovine IgG test against RID and to measure interobserver variation for assessing FTPI in dairy calves.
Published by: Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 98, Iss. 7; July 2015, Pg 4754-4761
Authored by: I.Elsohaby*† G.P.Keefe*
Received 28 October 2014, Accepted 10 March 2015, Available online 23 April 2015.
