Calf scours testing

During calf scour season, many samples are assessed both at laboratories and at the pen-side in order to detect causative pathogens. Bear in mind that these tests are not 100% accurate. Specificity is relatively good with few false positive results occurring, whereas the sensitivity of faecal tests in general is modest, unless the calf is shedding large numbers of organisms (including parasites, virus particles, or bacteria) at the time of testing. Shedding of some organisms may be intermittent or dependent on the stage of infection at the time of sampling. Some calves shed small to moderate numbers of organisms throughout infection, and pathogen numbers can wane by as early as four days in some cases.