Ultrastructural and immunohistochemical investigations in calves with coronavirus pneumoenteritis syndrome

The aim of present studies was the structural and morphogenetic investigation of spontaneous pneumoenteritis syndrome in newborn and growing calves with regard to confirmation of some structural features of disease morphogenesis. The research was done with 370 calves from 6 cattle farms in 4 regions of the country, at the age of 24 h 25 days. For rapid antigenic and viral detection of pathogens, Multiscreen Ag ELISA, Bovine respiratory, Pulmotest respiratory tetra ELISA kit for antigenic diagnosis of BoНV-1, BVDV, BRSV, and BPI-3 sandwich test for tissue lysates (BIOX Diagnostics, Belgium) and Rainbow calf scour 5 BIO K 306 Detection of Bovine Rotavirus, Coronavirus, Escherichia coli F5, Cryptosporidium parvum and Clostridium perfringens in bovine stool (BIOX Diagnostics, Belgium) were used. In 5% of cases, laboratory antigenic tests of lung tissue lysates from pneumonic calves detected co-infections with BoНV-1, BVDV, BRSV and BPI-3. The utilised antigenic, ultrastructural and virological diagnostic methods allowed concluding that they could be successfully used in the diagnostics of pulmonary and gastrointestinal viral infections in juvenile calves. Electron microscopy and immunohistochemical methods of lung and intestinal tissue are also important and applicable for diagnostics and in differential diagnostic recognition of the condition from other common diseases as IBR, BVD, BRSV, Mannheimia haemolytica, Cryptosporidium parvum, BRV and E. coli K99 (F5).