The detection of an unidentified type of adenovirus in the stools of calves with weak calf syndrome by use of a commercial kit designed for the detection of human adenoviruses

An outbreak of polyarthritis in newborn calves in a large collective dairy herd was characterized by intra-articular blood-tinged synoviae, blood tainted faeces and massive subcorneal haemorrhages. Faecal samples from eight clinical newborn cases, 10 from unrelated dairy farms and 10 faecal samples from healthy calves were examined by the Rida Quick rotavirus/adenovirus-combi test . A specific adenovirus antigen precipitin-line was seen in the reaction in all the faecal samples from the diseased calves (n = 8), while all the others (n = 20) were negative. In addition, the same positive reaction was noted when one aqueous humor and two synovial samples were tested with this kit. Several other enteropathogens were found sporadically, but no conclusive significance could be attributed to their presence. Bovine viral diarrhoea and infectious bovine rhinothracheitis viruses as well as Chlamydia spp. and Mycoplasma spp. were not involved in this episode.