|
Disease |
Clinical features |
Abortion rate |
Abortion time |
Placenta |
Foetus |
Diagnostic confirmation |
|
Brucellosis (B.
abortus) Contagious
abortion |
Abortion. Oral infection. 90% cows are carriers.
Zoonosis |
High, in susceptible herds |
6-9 months + neonatal death |
Leathery & opaque placenta with oedema.
Necrosis of cotyledons. |
Pneumonia. S/c oedema. Pleuritis. Large % no
lesions |
Culture of foetal organs. Elisa, Rose Bengal,
Milkring, Complement fixation serology tests. Stamps cytology. Histopath. |
|
Campylobac-teriosis
(Campylobacter foetus
) |
Infertility. Irregular moderately prolonged
dioestrus. Rare abortions |
Low < 5%, may be up to 20% |
3-5 months |
Semi-opaque, little thickening. Petechiae,
localized avascularity and oedema |
Flakes of pus on peritoneum. Usually no lesions |
Culture of foetal stomach, placenta and uterine
exudates. Bull sheath wash / scrapings. (Steves TM) |
|
Leptospirosis (L.interrogans
pomona
and L.
hardjo
etc.) |
Abortion may occur at acute febrile stage, or
without illness |
0 - 30% |
Late, 6 months + & neonatal |
Avascular placenta yellowbrown cotyledons,
oedema. Placentitis |
Foetal death common - autolytic foetus. Icterus
may occur |
Isolation difficult. Direct examination of urine
of cow. Positive serum agglutinatin test 14-21 days after fever. Histopath :
Warthin-Starry stain |
|
Trichomoniosis
Tritrichomonas
foetus |
Infertility - return to heat at 4-5 months,
abortion and pyometra |
Moderate, 5 – 30% |
2-4 months |
Flocculent material and clear, serous fluid in
uterine exudates. Pyometra common |
Foetal maceration & mummification. |
Culture of foetal stomach and uterine exudates
within 24 hours of abortion. Culture bull sheath wash / scrapings (Steves
TM) |
|
Neosporosis (Neospora
spp.) |
Sporadic or abortion storms. Repeated abortions |
High in dairy cows |
4 - 6 months |
No macro lesions |
Autolyzed and rarely white foci in muscle and
heart |
Histopathology and histochemistry on formalin
fixed foetal brain tissue. Serology. |
|
Bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) |
< 125 days resorp. > 125 days
abortion. Infertility. Clinical mucosal disease |
Sporadic high abortion rate |
4 - 9 months & neonatal |
No macro lesions |
Abortion. Congenital malformations eye and
brain. |
Antigen detection Eliza capture, Histochemistry
on formalin tissue. Viral culture. Serology (negative titre may be carrier)
IFA. |
|
Bovine rhinotra-cheitis (IBR) |
IBR signs, fever, abortions |
High in un-vaccinated herds |
> 4 months |
Placentitis necrotic colyledons |
Autolytic foetus. Necrotic liver foci. Excess
fluid in body cavities |
Culture placenta, abomasum & kidney. Serology if
unvaccinated Bronchopneumonia on PM. Histochemistry on formalin tissue |
|
Actinomyces pyogenes |
Sporadic abortions, endometritis, pyometra,
placentitis |
Low, 5% or less |
Last tri-mester |
Placentitis with red - brown exudate &
micro-abscesses of cotyledons |
Fibrinous poly-serositis. Broncho-pneumonia |
Culture the placenta and abomasum. (Gram +) A
bronchopneumonia is present with histopathology. |
|
Mycoses (Aspergillus,
Absidia,
etc sp.) |
Rare sporadic abortion |
Unknown. Low % of all abor-tions |
4 -7 months |
Necrotic cotyledons- yellow & soft. Mycotic
leathery plaques present |
Fresh foetus. Skin plaques or diffuse white
areas |
Cytology of cotyledon, foetal stomach for fungal
hyphae. Culture. Histo-pathology of skin & other lesions |
|
Listeriosis
Listeria mono-cytogenes |
Sporadic disease with or without septicaemia |
Low. Max 15% |
6 - 8 months |
Necrotic placentitis |
Autolysis. Micro-abscesstion of the liver |
Culture from foetal stomach or placenta.
Histopathology of necrotic hepatitis. |
|
Chlamydiosis
Chlamydophila abortus. |
Abortions.Diarrhoea, pneumonia, arthritis in
neonatal calves. Epizootic in cattle |
Sporadic high abortion rate |
6 - 9 months |
No macro lesions |
Anasarca, lymph-adenopathy,tracheal petechea |
Isolation from foetus. PCR test on organ
material. Gimenez cytology. IFA antigen detection. Histopathology. |
|
The importance of
Mycoplasma, Ureaplasma,
Coxiella,Cowdria,Babesia,Salmonella,Haemophilus,Parainfluenza, Rift Valley
fever, Orbi-, Simbu-virus,etc
is still undetermined. The cause of abortion is undiagnosed and / or
non-infectious in 60 - 70% of cases. |
