Surveillance of diarrhea-causing pathogens in dairy and beef cows in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan from 2002 to 2011.

The economic consequences of bovine diarrhea are serious. Few long-term epidemiological data are available concerning the causative pathogens of bovine diarrhea in Japan. From 2002 to 2011, surveillance of enteric pathogens was performed in cows of various breed and age from 302 farms in which diarrhea had occurred in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. Differences between dairy and beef cows in the number of cases of diarrhea and rates of infection by Salmonella spp. and Eimeria spp. were found. Clinical symptoms (duration of epidemic, hematochezia and complications) caused by bovine rotavirus infection were milder than those caused by bovine coronavirus infection.