Hoard's Dairyman article: Staying ahead of crypto Staying ahead
of crypto by Geof Smith, D.V.M. The author is at the College of
Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
That “ounce of prevention” is your best bet. Cryptosporidiosis
is a common cause of diarrhea. It can be very frustrating to
deal with since it occurs very commonly, is difficult or
impossible to get rid of completely, and is not readily
treatable. Specifically, cryptosporidiosis refers to diarrhea
caused by the protozoal organism Cryptosporidium parvum. Disease
caused by a protozoa is different than what we usually see in
cattle. However, this is an important distinction. Many diseases
we normally deal with are caused by bacteria which often are
treated with antibiotics. However, protozoal organisms generally
are not killed by these drugs. Other major diseases of dairy
cattle are caused by viruses. These infections usually aren’t
treatable with antibiotics, but they often are preventable by
using vaccines (respiratory dis