Callens, Jozefien

De Bleecker, Koen

De Clercq, Kris

Deprez, Piet

Dierick, Jan

Ducatelle, Richard

Maes, Sofie

Pardon, Bart

Saey, Veronique

Steukers, Lennert

Vercauteren, Griet

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

Bovine Neonatal Pancytopenia:descriptive epidemiology in BelgiumB. Pardon1, L. Steukers2, J. Dierick5, R. Ducatelle3, V. Saey3, S. Maes3, G. Vercauteren3,K. De Clercq6, J. Callens4, K. De Bleecker4, P. Deprez11Department of Large Animal Internal Medicine, 2Department of Virology, Parasitology and Immunology,3Department of Pathology, Bacteriology and Avian Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium4Animal Health Service-Flanders (DGZ-Vlaanderen), Industrielaan 29, 8820 Torhout, Belgium5AZ Maria Middelares, Kortrijksesteenweg 1026, 9000 Ghent, Belgium6Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre, Department of Virology, Groeselenberg 99, B-1180 Brussels, BelgiumBart.Pardon@UGent.beIntroductionBovine neonatal pancytopenia (BNP) is the consensus name for a bleeding and pancytopenic syndrome in neonatal calves which emergedin 2008 all over Europe. The objective was to describe the epidemiology of BNP in Belgium between 2008 and 2010.Materials and methodsIn July 2008 the first BNP affected herds were detected in Flanders (northernBelgium). In 2009 both farmers and veterinarians were informed on the existenceof BNP and official reporting of BNP cases was organised at the Flemish AnimalHealth Service. Herds were only confirmed as a BNP herd when the criteria (Table1) were met in at least one live or one dead calf. In live calves the presence ofleukopenia and thrombocytopenia was used instead of bone marrow cytology forpractical reasons. On the first 30 confirmed herds an extensive herd history oncolostrum management, feeding regime, breeding program, animal diseases,medication and vaccine use was collected by telephone enquiry and/or farm visit.ResultsIncidence, geographical and seasonal spread (100 herds)Between June 2008 and October 2010, 100 out of 105 reported herds met the criteria (0.42% of all Flemish herds). A total of 174 affectedcalves were confirmed. Three herds had already cases in 2007, and two other herds had already observed a similar case in 2006. Thenumber of newly affected herds systematically rose from 14 in 2008, over 26 in 2009 to 60 in 2010. The availability of the national reportingsystem rather than a sudden spread of the disease is taught to responsible for this rise. The incidence of affected herds was higher inWestern (0.63%) and Eastern Flanders (0.50%) than in Antwerp (0.17%), Limburg (0.30%) or Flemish Brabant (0.12%) (Figure 1). Thepresence of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the Animal Health Service in respectively Eastern and Western Flanders might explainthis difference. Whereas a seasonal distribution (higher incidence in summer and fall) was noted in 2008 and 2009, this was less obvious in2010 as herds and calves were reported almost the year round (Figure 2).Table 1: Case definition of bovine neonatal pancytopenia in live and dead calvesCiterium Live calf Dead calfAge < 1 month old < 1 month oldSymptoms Cutaneous bleeding and/or petechia and/or melenaCutaneous bleeding and/or petechia and/or melenaLeukopenia < 3.0 x 109 WBC/L NAThrombocytopenia < 100 x 109 PLT/L* NABone marrow Cytology**: Bone marrow aplasiaAbsence of megakaryocytesHistology: Bone marrow aplasiaAbsence of megakaryocytesBovine viral diarrheaAntigen PCR negative on blood Antigen PCR negative on spleen tissue*Only reliable if processed within 2 hours**Not systematically performed for practical reasonsNA= not availableFigure 2: Distribution of newly confirmed BNP herds according to month02468101214jun/08jul/08aug/08sep/08okt/08nov/08dec/08jan/09feb/09mrt/09apr/09mei/09jun/09jul/09aug/09sep/09okt/09nov/09dec/09jan/10feb/10mrt/10apr/10mei/10jun/10jul/10aug/10sep/10okt/10Number of affected herdsMonth of official reportingTable 2: General information on the first 30 BNP affected herds in FlandersFarm ID Date of admissionProvince Production typeBreed Total number of cattle presentNumber of cattle < 2 yearsCases 2006Cases 2007Cases 2008Cases 2009Cases TotalFarm 1 02/07/08 WF Dairy HF 86 28 2 2 4Farm 2 30/06/08 EF Beef BB 110 64 1 1Farm 3 09/07/08 EF Beef BB 86 40 4 4Farm 4 10/07/08 WF Mixed BB 250 90 1 1Farm 5 15/08/08 EF Beef BB 77 38 1 1Farm 6 22/08/08 WF Dairy HF 90 38 3 3Farm 7 05/09/08 WF Dairy HF 141 66 1 2 3 3 9Farm 8 08/09/08 WF Beef BB 179 102 2 2 4Farm 9 23/09/08 EF Dairy HF 207 116 2 1 3Farm 10 02/10/09 WF Dairy HF 138 58 2 2Farm 11 06/10/08 EF Dairy HF 139 57 1 3 4Farm 12 23/10/08 A Beef BB 121 70 1 1Farm 13 06/11/08 EF Dairy HF 192 92 3 1 4Farm 14 30/10/08 WF Dairy HF 97 48 1 1Farm 15 03/11/08 EF Beef BB 119 67 1 1Farm 16 18/11/08 L Dairy HF 186 67 1 1Farm 17 18/11/08 WF Dairy HF 261 149 1 1Farm 18 12/12/08 EF Beef BB 19 9 3 3Farm 19 04/02/09 WF Dairy HF 273 145 4 4Farm 20 18/06/09 EF Beef BB 200 105 6 6Farm 21 24/06/09 EF Beef BB 90 41 2 2Farm 22 25/06/09 EF Dairy HF 184 76 4 4Farm 23 26/06/09 WF Beef BB 58 32 1 1Farm 24 12/07/09 WF Beef BB 207 122 4 4Farm 25 22/08/09 EF Beef BB 237 132 1 2 3Farm 26 14/08/09 WF Mixed HF/BB 177 91 4 4Farm 27 24/08/09 WF Dairy HF 80 35 1 1Farm 28 20/08/09 A Dairy HF 265 118 3 3Farm 29 31/08/09 WF Mixed HF/BB 150 80 2 2Farm 30 08/09/09 EF Mixed HF 106 50 2 2Total 2 5 39 38 84HF= Holstein-Friesian; BB= Belgian Blue; WF= Western Flanders; EF= Eastern Flanders; A= Antwerp; L= LimburgHerd history (30 herds)In 63% of the herds more than one calf was affected in one year, and thesecases were almost always clustered (1-6 calves). In 6 out of 7 herds, from whichblood samples of calves of the same age group as the clinical case werecollected, leukopenia could be demonstrated in one asymptomatic calf, whichremained healthy afterwards. Of the affected calves 40% was born from heifers,30% from 2nd parity, 25% from 3th parity and 5% from 4th parity. In two herdsthe same cow gave birth to a case twice, not necessarily in consecutive years.On 47% of the farms only fresh colostrum from the mother was given, whereason 30% fresh colostrum in combination with frozen colostrum from the ownherd was used. Only three herds (10%) occasionally used frozen colostrum fromanother herd. In one herd fresh colostrum was supplemented with a colostrumreplacer. Of the herds, 83% reported a history of bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) 1to 10 years ago. Recent screening results demonstrated BVD circulation in 12 ofthe 20 examined herds. All but one herd were vaccinated against BVD virus. Theone herd, which didn’t vaccinate, was the farm that used colostrum replacers.Four BVD vaccines were used of which one had been used or was still used onall but one farm. On three farms the first cases of BNP were observed beforeBTV vaccination was performed on these farms.Figure 1: Geographical spread of BNP affected herds in Flanders (S. Ribbens)

Bovine neonatal pancytopenia: descriptive epidemiology in Belgium

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Bovine neonatal pancytopenia: descriptive epidemiology in Belgium

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