3.5. Association of C. parvum Infection with Diarrhea
Occurrence as Indicated by Univariate and Multivariate Analyses
In the univariate analysis of data, C. parvum -positive calves had
a significantly higher occurrence of diarrhea (odds ratio = 3.20,P = 0.002, Table 5), especially watery diarrhea (odds ratio =
14.78, P = 0.000). There was no correlation betweenCryptosporidium infection and occurrence of moderate diarrhea. In
addition, neonatal calves were more likely to have watery diarrhea (odds
ratio = 34.12, P = 0.001, Table 5) and moderate diarrhea (odds
ratio = 3.09, P = 0.000, Table 5) than older animals. Further
analysis using the multivariate model showed that C. parvuminfection was the only species associated with the occurrence of
diarrhea (odds ratio = 2.98, P = 0.016, Table 5), especially
watery diarrhea (odds ratio = 11.19, P = 0.000, Table 5). In
addition, age was an important risk factor associated with the
occurrence of watery diarrhea (odds ratio = 40.00, P = 0.001,
Table 5) and moderate diarrhea (odds ratio = 2.91, P = 0.001,
Table 5) in these animals.