Schistosoma mettheei infestation in the ox: the intestinal syndrome

Twenty-eight Friesland calves were infested at 7 to 11 months of age with 5 000-45 OOO cercariae of Schistosoma mattheei. At 7 to 8 weeks post-infestation the majority developed an acute intestinal syndrome characterised by diarrhoea or dysentery, anorexia and loss of condition, from which they recovered spontansously. The severity and duration of illness was proportional to the level of infestation. Two heavily infested animals on a low plan of nutrition developed a subacute syndrome in which the initial acute disease was succeeded by prolonged unthriftiness, without diarrhoea, from which recovery occurred when the nutritional status was improved. Both acute and subacute forms of the syndrome were encountered in natural outbreaks.