Toye Philip, Handel Ian, Gray Julia, Kiara Henry, Thumbi Samuel, Jennings Amy, van Wyk Ilana Conradie, Ndila Mary, Hanotte Olivier, Coetzer Koos, Woolhouse Mark, Bronsvoort Mark
The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), P.O. Box 30709, Nairobi 00100, Kenya.
Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2013 Sep 1;155(1-2):129-34. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2013.06.003. Epub 2013 Jun 14.
The passive transfer of antibodies from dams to offspring via colostrum is believed to play an important role in protecting neonatal mammals from infectious disease. The study presented here investigates the uptake of colostrum by 548 calves in western Kenya maintained under smallholder farming, an important agricultural system in eastern Africa. Serum samples collected from the calves and dams at recruitment (within the first week of life) were analysed for the presence of antibodies to four tick-borne haemoparasites: Anaplasma marginale, Babesia bigemina, Theileria mutans and Theileria parva. The analysis showed that at least 89.33% of dams were seropositive for at least one of the parasites, and that 93.08% of calves for which unequivocal results were available showed evidence of having received colostrum. The maternal antibody was detected up until 21 weeks of age in the calves. Surprisingly, there was no discernible difference in mortality or growth rate between calves that had taken colostrum and those that had not. The results are also important for interpretation of serosurveys of young calves following natural infection or vaccination.
抗体通过初乳从母体被动转移至后代，这一过程被认为在保护新生哺乳动物免受传染病侵害方面发挥着重要作用。本文所呈现的研究对肯尼亚西部小农户养殖模式下的548头犊牛的初乳摄取情况展开了调查，小农户养殖模式是东非一种重要的农业体系。在招募时（犊牛出生后第一周内）采集犊牛及其母体的血清样本，分析其中针对四种蜱传血液寄生虫的抗体：边缘无浆体、双芽巴贝斯虫、突变泰勒虫和小泰勒虫。分析结果显示，至少89.33%的母体至少对一种寄生虫血清呈阳性，并且在有明确结果的犊牛中，93.08%的犊牛有摄取初乳的迹象。在犊牛21周龄之前都能检测到母体抗体。令人惊讶的是，摄取初乳的犊牛与未摄取初乳的犊牛在死亡率或生长速率上没有明显差异。这些结果对于解释自然感染或接种疫苗后幼龄犊牛的血清学调查也具有重要意义。
