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Efficacy of a fixed combination of florfenicol and meloxicam to address lung lesions in veal calves with BRD
Authors
Anastasia Lisuzzo Damien Achard Alessio Valenza Luca Cozza Giacomo Catarin Barbara Contiero Enrico Fiore
Publication information
European Buiatrics Congress 2025
Objectives
Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a syndrome affecting up to 61 % of veal calf herds. The diagnosis in field and treatment decisions are generally based on examination for BRD clinical signs. However, the low sensitivity and specificity can delay diagnosis and caused treatment failure. In contrast, lung ultrasonography is recognized as a more performant tool to detect BRD and to assess the lesions’ healing process. To better characterize the BRD prevalence in veal calf herds and the healing process of lung lesions after treatment, a field study was performed using lung ultrasonography as screening tool and a combination of florfenicol and meloxicam for treatment.
Materials and Methods
Animal care and procedures were in accordance with the European Directive 2010/63/EU and the national law D.L. 2014/26. A total of 84 veal calves of 30±9 days and 53±5 Kg were enrolled in the trial. Animal clinical and ultrasonography examinations were performed twice weekly for the first 60d and then weekly until 180d. Lungs were collected at the slaughterhouse to evaluate gross lesion prevalence. Clinical examinations were used to establish Wisconsin (BRD≥4) and California (BRD≥5) scores. The lung ultrasonography was used to establish ultrasonography score (US; 0-5 points score) and modified lung lesion score (LLS; BRD≥10.5). Cranial lesions depth (cm) was measured for each lesion of both lung sides. Animals with the US≥3 or cranial lesion depth ≥3cm and at least 1 clinical sign were treated with one subcutaneous administration of a fixed combination of florfenicol and meloxicam (40mg/Kg+0.5mg/Kg; Zeleris®, Ceva Santé Animale). Treated animals (Flor-Mel group) was monitored at +1, +3, +5, +7, +9, +11, and +14d post-treatment. The non-treated animals during the production cycle were classified as control group. The success (animals that improved after treatment), relapse (animals that required retreatment), chronicity (animals without improvements and with more than three treatments), and mortality (dead animals for BRD) rates of the treatment were evaluated until 45 days after treatment (45-day rates). Differences over time in the Flor-Mel group were assessed by PROC GLIMMIX procedure of S.A.S.-software using the effect of time, sex, breeds, and animal (random and repeated effect). A post-hoc pairwise comparison was performed using Bonferroni correction. Groups comparisons in disease prevalence and lung gross lesion were assessed by chi-square test. The average daily gain (ADG) was evaluated by one-way ANOVA for group effect. A p-value<0.05 was accepted.
Results
Flor-Mel and Control groups enrolled respectively 36 and 48 calves. The BRD prevalence was low and similar between groups at arrival (Control: 2.1% for Wisconsin score, 6.3% for California score, 0% for US, and 0% for cranial lesions depth; Flor-Mel: 0% for Wisconsin score, 2.7% for California score, 0% for US, and 0% for cranial lesions depth). No differences were also observed at the end of the production cycle in disease prevalence or ADG (Control: 0% for Wisconsin score, 0% for California score, 22.9% for US, 10.1% for cranial lesions depth, ADG 1.50Kg/d; Flor-Mel: 0% for Wisconsin score, 5.6% for California score, 22.2% for US, 20.7% for cranial lesions depth, ADG 1.44 Kg/d). Prevalence of lung gross lesion was also similar (Control: 20.8%; Flor-Mel 27.7%; General prevalence: 23.8%). Treatment success 45d-rate was 97.1%, chronicity 45d-rate was 2.9%, mortality 45d-rate was 0%, and relapse 45d-rate was 0%. Both clinical scores increased after treatment with a peak at +5d. Afterwards, both clinical scores decreased within 2 to 4 days (+7 to +9d after treatment). The US score was 4.7±0.3 at treatment and decrease at +3d (US=3.64), +5d (US=2.41), +11d (US=1.68) after treatment. The LLS was 15.6±1.9 at treatment and decrease at +1d (LLS=12.52), +5d (LLS=6.98), +7d (LLS=4.33) after treatment. The right cranial lesion depth was 5.0 cm at treatment and decrease at +3d (3.9 cm; -22%), +5d (2.1 cm; -58%), +11d (0.9 cm; -82%) after treatment. The left cranial lesion depth was 4.5 cm at treatment and decrease at +3d (2.5 cm; -40%), and +5d (1.3 cm; -71%) after treatment.
Conclusions
In this field study in veal calves, the frequent lung scan coupled with clinical examination led to early detection of BRD clinical cases, 5 days before most frequently used clinical scoring tools. Prompt treatment with a fixed combination of florfenicol and meloxicam (Zeleris®) was associated with a high success rate, an absence of relapse, a rapid healing of lung lesions, and a similar growth to control calves. In conclusion, targeted treatments following periodic clinical and ultrasonographic monitoring allowed an early diagnosis of active bronchopneumonia with relevant reduction in the prevalence of lung lesions at slaughter.
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