Coprological investigation on neonatal bovine cryptosporidiosis in Ludhiana, Punjab.

An overall prevalence of 38.90 % was recorded for bovine cryptosporidiosis on coprological examination of 144 faecal samples collected from neonatal cattle calves from organised dairy farms in and around Ludhiana, Punjab by modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining. Further, a gradual decline in the percent prevalence was seen with increase in the age of the host from <1 month (64.1 %) to 4-5 months (12.5 %). The highest prevalence was recorded during the monsoon season (47.06 %) followed by summer (37.73 %) and winter (30.0 %) season and the seasonal variation was statistically significant (p ≤ 0.05). Female calves showed higher prevalence (44.32 %) than their male counterparts (27.66 %). Further, prevalence of cryptosporidiosis was significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) in the diarrhoeic calves (52.70 %) as compared to the non-diarrhoeic (24.28 %) thus indicating a relatively higher risk (1.75 times) of the disease in diarrhoeic than normal calves.