Digestive diseases of cattle diagnosed at the “Clínica de Bovinos de Garanhuns”-UFRPE: retrospective study and influence of seasonality

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Diseases of the bovine digestive system make up an important group of diseases, often being responsible for significant economic losses in the livestock sector. The current work aimed to carry out a retrospective study of the diseases of the digestive system in cattle diagnosed at the “Clínica de Bovinos de Garanhuns”, “Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco”, from January 1999 to December 2018. In this period, a total of 9,343 cattle were admitted to the CBG-UFRPE, of which 2,238 (24.0%) were diagnosed with diseases of the digestive system. In two decades, the total number of cattle admitted annually by the institution almost doubled as well as the number of cases of digestive diseases. The diseases categorized as mechanical/motor were the most prevalent (33.6%), followed by fermentative (28.4%), gastroenteritis (16.0%), esophageal diseases (9.7%), and diseases of the oral cavity (4.5%). Lesions of the rectum and anus, congenital alterations, and other digestive diseases showed relative frequencies below 4%. Traumatic reticulitis and its sequelae (14.5%) are the most prevalent disorders, followed by simple indigestion (10.1%), esophageal and intestinal obstructive disorders (9.0%), non-specific gastroenteritis (8.6%), displaced abomasum (RDA and LDA) (5.5%), and frothy bloat, ruminal lactic acidosis, and impaction of the forestomach and abomasum, which represented approximately 5% each. In general, these diseases presented a lethality rate of 46.0%, with emphasis on mechanical/motor diseases with a lethality rate of 73.8%. In general, diseases were more prevalent in females, crossbreeds, aged over 24 months, and raised in a semi-intensive system. Diseases of the digestive system increased over the years studied, representing a considerable portion of the diseases that affect cattle raised in this region, which makes up the main milk basin in the State of Pernambuco, confirming its economic and social impact in the region.