Rotavirus in Calves: Cutting-Edge Insights and Emerging Challenges

Abstract

In calves, Rotavirus is the main cause of diarrheal disease, which significantly reduces productivity and economy. Since their discovery in the 1970s, the human rotaviruses have been recognized as the most important cause of acute infectious gastroenteritis among infants and children worldwide. Rotavirus has been found to infect almost all mammalian and avian species tested, and is primarily a disease of the young. In humans, rotavirus is the most frequent gastrointestinal pathogen in infants and children less than 2 years of age.  Although rotavirus causes diarrheal disease in calves and humans around the world, many of its aspects are not fully understood, considering that it is one of the most significant health problems in calves, interrupting invention remunerations with decreased weight gain besides increased mortality, and having the probability to spread zoonotic diseases. In almost all cases, rotavirus causes pathological changes that lead to diarrhea in the small intestine. The species is widely distributed in the environment and has been extensively studied. There is a wide range of hosts for Rotaviruses, including animals in addition to humans. Several animal strains of rotavirus have antigenic similarities to some human strains, which might indicate that animals might be sources of human rotavirus infection. It has been found that both humans and animals can become infected with groups A to C. G2, G3, G4, and G9, P strains are the most frequently detected in humans and animals. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to get a better picture of the epidemiology, prevalence status, zoonotic significance, and ways to cope with bovine rotavirus.