Inclusion of zinc in therapeutic regimen can mitigate and/or obviate use of antimicrobials in neonatal calf diarrhea

The wide range of avoidable complications including the usage of high cost antimicrobials, poor owner compliance and immunocompromised state of the diarrheic calves owing to gastrointestinal loss of zinc that arise out of the current trends of neonatal calf diarrhea management enjoins for development and/or adoption of novel therapeutic options that ensure better clinical cure. One newer, sustainable and affordable alternative may be the incorporation of zinc in the therapeutic regimen. This may hasten recovery; reduce morbidity and mortality rates associated with NCD. WHO has long back recommended Zinc supplementation to decrease the duration and severity of infant diarrhea. Yet the same hasn’t been fully evaluated in animal health. The aim of this study was to evaluate in-vitro antimicrobial activity of zinc salts by agar diffusion method against E. coli isolated from diarrheic calves (aged < 28 days), to assess their effect on the colony count and to check therapeutic effectiveness of zinc gluconate either alone or in combination with Sulfamethoxazole & Trimethoprim (Bactrim) in neonatal diarrheic calves. The results indicated the potential inhibitory effect of zinc oxide (ZnO) on the growth of E. coli; zinc chloride (ZnCl2) showing no effect while as zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) favoured the bacterial growth. All zinc-containing formulations tested (ZnO, zinc gluconate and zinc acetate) showed the reduction in fecal colony count; more pronounced and equivalent to ceftriaxone was observed with ZnO. Zinc gluconate administration to neonatal diarrheic calves showed promising therapeutic potential in terms of reduction in the number of days taken for clinical recovery.