Causes of calf mortality in Kabete area of Kenya

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Authors

Mulei, C.M.
Gitau, G.K.
Mbuthia, P.G.

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Published by the Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute

Abstract

A total of 345 calf carcases of mainly dairy breeds from the farms around Kabete area were examined at the post-mortem facility in the Department of Veterinary Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nairobi, over a 10-year period (1980-1989). About 46,8% of the total deaths took place within the first 2 months, 31,8% of them in the first month and 13,3% in the first 2 weeks. In 23 cases (6,7%) no specific cause of death was determined. The major causes of death were diseases of the alimentary tract (31,3%) - mainly gastroenteritis (76/108) due to colibacillosis, salmonellosis, coccidiosis and helminthiasis, and bloat (20/108). The other major causes of death were diseases of the respiratory tract (16,8 %) mainly pneumonia (42/58), and tick-borne diseases (13,3%) - mainly east coast fever (ECF) (37/46). The alimentary and respiratory diseases were most common in the 1-30 d age group. The other causes of death occurred in the following frequencies: musculoskeletal system (7,0%), septicaemia (6,7%), malnutrition (6,1 %), cardiovascular system (3,7%), nervous system (3,2%), liver (2,6%) and poisoning (2,6%).

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The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.

Keywords

Veterinary medicine, Cause, Calf mortality, Kabete area, Kenya

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Citation

Mulei, CM, Gitau, GK & Mbuthia, PG 1995, 'Causes of calf mortality in Kabete area of Kenya’. Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 181-185.