An epidemiologic study of late-term abortions in dairy cattle in Denmark, July 2000–August 2003

Abstract

Abortion in dairy cows in well-managed dairies is not common but differences have been reported probably due to variation in animal health, nutrition and management, as well as difficulties in observing the aborted material. A 38-month study of 507 large Danish dairy herds revealed 3354 late-term abortions and 224,419 calvings were recorded. During the study period, a total of 3717 submissions were made to the Danish Institute for Food and Veterinary Research (DFVF). A broad spectrum of abortive agents was isolated but none were found to be statistically associated with abortions. The number of abortions in a month on a dairy was significantly ( P < 0.001) associated with the number of cows in the third trimester but explained only 11% ( R adj 2 = 0.114 ) of the variability of the reported abortions. A total of 23 herds (4.5%) reported 531 abortions (15.8%). Although a marginally significant ( P = 0.11) risk of increased abortions was found to exist in bovine viral diarrhea virus- (BVDV) infected herds, it could be at least partially explained by additional calvings in those herds. Temporal correlation between inseminations and abortions was statistically significant ( P < 0.001) with the highest correlation ( r = 0.47–0.51) after lagging abortions on insemination by 6–8 months. No indication of spatial clustering was detected for either specific-abortogenic pathogens or high aborting dairies using either Cuzick–Edwards’ ( P > 0.17) or spatial scan tests ( P > 0.23). Ederer–Myers–Mantel test was applied to 3 years of data on the highest aborting dairies and showed that July had nearly double the expected number of maximum monthly abortions ( P < 0.001). These findings provide further insight into the reported abortion pattern in Danish dairies and may facilitate planning future control programs.