Effectiveness of Antimicrobials in the Treatment of Neonatal Diarrhea in Calves: A protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Authors:  Bernal Cordoba, Erik Davis Fausak, N. Silva del Rio

Background:Neonatal diarrhea affects nearly 25% of pre-weaned calves. Prevention through management practices is the preferable approach to control diarrhea. Once calves experience diarrhea, fluids, electrolytes and acid-base balance need to be restored. Severe cases of diarrhea should be treated with antimicrobials but the need of antimicrobials in mild and moderate clinical cases it is still under debate.Objectives:The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial treatments or the comparative efficacy of antimicrobials treatments in calves with mild, moderate and severe diarrhea.Design: The search strategy will be based on population (calves with diarrhea), and intervention (antimicrobial therapy). The following data bases will be used: Medline, CAB abstracts, Scopus, and Biosis. The outcomes of interest will be the occurrence and persistence of clinical signs of diarrhea, rate of growth, weight gain, feed efficiency or mortality