A study of some infectious causes of reproductive disorders in cattle owned by resource-poor farmers in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Two hundred and thirty-nine cattle from Gauteng Province in South Africa were tested for various pathogens causing reproductive diseases including bovine viral diarrhoea/mucosal disease (BVD/MD) virus, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis/infectious pustular vulvovaginitis (IBR/IPV) virus, Neospora caninum and Brucella abortus using various tests. For BVD/MD virus, 49.37 % tested positive, 74.47 % for IBR/IPV virus, 8.96 % for Neospora caninum and 3.8 % for Brucella abortus. The result for Brucella abortus is higher than the national average, possibly due to the small sample size. A high seroprevalence of antibodies to both BVD/MD virus and IBR/IPV virus was evident. These 2 viruses should be considered, in addition to Brucella abortus, when trying to establish causes of abortion in cattle. The clinical significance of Neospora caninum as a cause of abortion in Gauteng needs further investigation. One hundred and forty-three bulls were tested for Campylobacter fetus and Trichomonas fetus, and a low prevalence of 1.4 % and 2.1 % respectively was found in this study. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Molecular characterization of Brucella species in cattle, sheep and goats obtained from selected municipalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

“…This technique could therefore stop the slaughtering of vaccinated animals in the Eastern Cape. Brucella vaccines used in South Africa for livestock are the B. melitensis Rev 1, the live B. abortus strain 19, and B. abortus strain RB51 [17]. One of the reasons S19 was detected in our study is due to the fact that it is the vaccine of choice in the Eastern Cape for the prevention of brucellosis in cattle because it has been reported to be superior [40].…”

“…Reports on brucellosis in Southern Africa are mainly restricted to cattle with the exclusion of small ruminants (sheep and goats) and are widely based on serological surveys [16,17]. Consequently, this present study aimed at detecting and identifying Brucella spp.…”

Survey of Infectious Etiologies of Bovine Abortion during Mid- to Late Gestation in Dairy Herds

“…Previous studies already showed negligible percentages for the involvement of Campylobacter spp. in bovine abortion [34], [57]. More samples should be collected to survey the infections caused by these two bacteria in dairy herds.…”

Review of common causes of abortion in dairy cattle in Ethiopia

“…In Africa, reports on neosporosis are limited; however, the available information is in line with global understanding of the protozoan that underscores the relevance of the N. caninum to the dairy sector (Ghalmi et al, 2012). The general seroprevalence of this disease globally ranges from 1.9 to 39.7% (Njiro et al, 2011;Ayinmode and Akanbi, 2013).…”