Epidemiologic Diagnosis of Neonatal Diarrhea in Dairy Calves

Abstract

Diagnosis, to some, means the categorization or naming of a particular disease state. Others take a more extended view, holding that diagnosis must include delineation of the nature and origins of the disease state at hand with particular effort toward those areas in which a potential solution is available. This has been called epidemiologic diagnosis. In most instances of neonatal dairy calf diarrhea, agent
identification is not diagnostic from an epidemiologic (solution-oriented) standpoint. The underlying causes may be identified only by a meticulous examination of management practices.