Comparison of the effectiveness of halofuginone lactate and paromomycin in the treatment of calves naturally infected with Cryptosporidium parvum

ABSTRACT

Background: Cryptosporidiosis is one of the most important problems among neonatal ruminants. Cryptosporidium parvum is the agent causing the disease. Cryptosporidium infection, responsible for diarrhea, dehydration, weight loss and death in neonatal ruminants, leads to significant economic losses for producers. In calves naturally or experimentally infected with cryptosporidiosis, many agents have been reported to have therapeutic and protective effects. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of halofuginone lactate and paromomycin in the treatment of calves naturally infected with Cryptosporidium parvum.Materials, Methods & Results: Twenty calves between 7 and 20 days of age and naturally infected were included in the study. There were two different treatment groups in the study. The first group of calves were administered 100 µg/kg/day halofuginone lactate for 7 days and the second group of calves were administered 100 mg/kg/day paromomycin for 7 days. In addition, antibiotic and vitamin C were applied to all calves. Jugular venous blood samples were obtained pre-treatment and on the 7th day after the treatment. Routine clinical examinations of the calves were performed on days 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 and rectal stool samples were collected for the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts. Severe diarrhea, dehydration, depression and weight loss were observed in calves in both treatment groups. A significant decrease (P < 0.05) was observed for both groups in oocyst count on days 3, 5 and 7 compared to days 0 and 1. Improvements in blood parameters, stool characters and clinical scoring of both groups were observed in post-treatment. Discussion: Many pharmaceuticals or compounds have been tested for animal with cryptosporidiosis and only very few of them have shown a partial protective activity in ruminants when used prophylactically. Halofuginone lactate and paromomycin are commonly recommended as both therapeutic and protective agents.[...]