Comparison of the fecal bacterial communities in diarrheic and non-diarrheic dairy calves from multiple farms in Southeastern PA

Diarrhea is a major cause of illness and death in dairy calves, and a better understanding of the microbial communities in diarrheic calves may lead to the development of improved treatments. We compared the fecal microbiota of diarrheic and non-diarrheic calves from seven dairy farms and found that some beneficial microorganisms such as <i>Ruminococcaceae </i>and <i>Faecalibacterium </i>were lower in diarrheic calves and may have been displaced by opportunistic microorganisms such as <i>Fusobacterium </i>and <i>Sutterella, </i>which may directly or indirectly contribute to illness. This work adds to our knowledge of what constitutes a healthy fecal microbiota in neonatal calves.

腹泻是奶牛犊牛发病与死亡的主要诱因之一，深入解析腹泻犊牛的肠道微生物群落特征，有望推动更高效治疗方案的开发。本研究对比了来自7个奶牛场的腹泻与非腹泻犊牛的粪便微生物群，结果发现，瘤胃球菌科（Ruminococcaceae）、粪杆菌属（Faecalibacterium）等有益微生物在腹泻犊牛粪便中的丰度显著降低，其生存生态位或被梭杆菌属（Fusobacterium）、萨特菌属（Sutterella）等机会性微生物占据；这类机会性微生物可直接或间接参与致病过程。本研究进一步拓展了我们对新生犊牛健康粪便微生物群组成的认知。