Pakistan being an agriculture country has 70% of its population that is totally dependent on agriculture and livestock sector which plays an important role in the economy of the country. Livestock has contribution of about 55.4 percent to the agricultural value added and 11.9 percent to the National GDP. Pakistan has population of about 64.9 millions of goat, 38.3 millions of cattle, 33.7 millions of buffaloes and 28.8 millionsheep population according to the economic survey estimate. Mutton production is about 643 million tons and beef production is about 1,829 tons out of total 3,379 million tons of meat production. Livestock produces approximately 49,512 million tons of milk out of which buffalo produces 62.0% while cattle produces 35% and sheep-goat produces 1.69% (Economic Survey, 2012-2013). Pakistan is the 3rd largest milk producing country in the world (Afzal, 2010).
Diarrhea can be defined as an increased in volume and quantity of fecal excretion. The diarrhea may contain mucous, blood, poor odor and variation in color then the normal feces.On the basis of time period, diarrhea has different types likeacute, constant and chronic. Time Period of acute diarrhea is not more than 14 days while in case of persistent/constant form, it continued for more than 14 days and in chronic case the diarrhea remain for a time period of 28 days(Bazeley, 2003)
Diarrhea is a leading factor towards the death of calves. Neonatal calf diarrhea is among the very important diseases of the calves worldwide. It is animportant contribution to the major economic losses in cattle industry. The cause of calve diarrhea may be infectious or non-infectious (Elhassan et al. 2011).
Bad hygiene, overpopulation, overfeeding, hot/cold temperature, feeding the calves artificially and the colostrum’s deprivation are all predisposing factor in the complex etiology of the disease (Hemashenpagam et al. 2009).
Infectious agent and the co-infection of different multiple pathogens are common in calves having diarrhea. Rotavirus, Cryptosporidium, corona virus and enterotoxigenicE. coli collectively are associated with 75-95% of the infections in calf diarrhea around the world. Clinically, Neonatal calf diarrhea is characterized by profuse acute watery diarrhea, progressive dehydration, acidosis and death within a few days. The degree of dehydration is estimated by the physical examination of calf and has been introduced as a reliable method (Radostits et al. 2009).
Experimentally the intestinal potassium and sodium combination can be bothered by different causes and various types of factors. However, electrolytes that are built up in the gastrointestinal tract have a function to reduce the water assimilation. Due to this, the organism losses water and the electrolyte commonly (Smith, 2009)
To evaluate the serum electrolytes as well as the acid-base imbalance, there is a need of laboratory tests which cannot be measured regularly in field condition.To check the degree of dehydration is a uniform protocol and is anticipated by body condition score of calves (Naylor 1989).
The electrolytes deficiency in neonatal diarrheic calves might be the cause of death in some cases. Althoughit is understood that serum concentrations of potassium (K) and sodium (Na) are very much necessary with reference to the fluids composition used for treatment purpose (Rucker et al. 2008).
Trace elements have also important part inthe reproduction, growth and productivity of the householdanimals. The imbalance and Difference in ratio of minerals leads towards both production and economic losses throughout the world. The important symptoms of trace element deficiencies that can be clinically shown in animals are anemia, diarrhea, loss of hair, pigmentation loss, growth disorders in bones, difficulty during walking, a flaky deposit in skin, bending, hyperkeratosis, Para keratosis, lack of appetite, decrease in reproductivity and fertility, young animal growth disorders, Tetany, reduction in protein synthesis, immunity compromised calves, abortion related to non-infectious factors and pica. However, reduction in the concentration of trace elements like cobalt, copper, iron, iodine, manganese, selenium or zinc leads to lower reproduction rates and lactation. Untreated changes in the serum concentrations of Ca, Mg and some trace elements may be the root of cause of some death or post diarrhea complications such growth retardation (Tajik and Nazifi, 2012).
The serum values of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) that is abnormal persists for a significantly long duration after the treatment of neonatal diarrheic calves. The normal serum concentration of Ca in cow has been reported as 2.43-3.1 mmol/L while the mean serum Ca in diarrheic calves reported was 1.297mmol/L. The normal serum concentration of Mg in cow has been reported as 0.74-0.95 mmol/L while the mean serum Mg was reported to be 0.8145mmol/L (Kaneko et al. 2008).
There are many advantages of using the hypertonic saline solution (7.5% NaCl; 4ml/kg BW) in diarrheic buffaloes and cattle to resuscitate them. Infusion of Hypertonic saline solution resulted in significant increase in sodium and chloride level in serum. The important feature for the successful and complete resuscitation of hypovolemia along with endotoxaemia in diarrheic buffalo calves is the total amount of sodium. The infusion of Hypertonic saline solution is quite safer and it does cause hypernatremia but not for a prolonged period. So, hypertonic saline solution has advantage of resuscitating the calves from acidemia and hypovolemia. It was also helpful in the improvement of oxygenation and cardiovascular performance (Zafar et al. 2012).
The neonatal calf diarrhea can be cured by using the electrolyte therapy like ringer lactate, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines and antibiotics in case of infectious diarrhea and through better farm management depending upon the root of cause (Radostits et al. 2009). There is a hypothesis that treatment of diarrheic calves with NSAIDs attenuates the behavior of sickness as well as gastrointestinal discomfort and encourages the calves to maintain an appetite supports the calves for better performance (Ghanem et al. 2012)