[Virological and bacteriological research on the etiology of gastroenteritis in newborn calves]

Virologic and bacteriologic studies were carried out of samples taken from calves with clinical gastroenteritis and from calves that died at the age of 2 to 10 days. A total of 199 samples were investigated of calves on 48 cattle-breeding farms. In 69 of the cases (34.2 per cent) strains of Escherichia coli were isolated, prevailing being those of the O8, O9, O15, O21, O26, O55, and O78 serogroups. Three of the strains isolated from fecal samples of clinically affected calves possessed the K99 antigen. The indirect immunosorbent method was employed, with 113 samples (56.8 per cent) identifying rotaviruses, and via the indirect immunofluorescence method in 26.6 per cent of the post mortem samples the virus of the mucosal disease was identified. On individual farms with records of the disease most often mixed infections of E. coli and rotaviruses were found. In order to organize effective prophylaxis and control complex bacteriologic and virologic investigations should be carried out with higher number of clinical and post mortem samples.