Risk Factors for Postpartum Endometritis and the Effect of Endometritis on Reproductive Performance in Dairy Cows in Korea

Abstract

Abstract. The objectives of this study were to determine the risk factors for postpartum endometritis by evaluating several reproductive factors in individual cows, and to determine the effect of endometritis on the subsequent reproductive performance in dairy herds in Korea. The data, including health status, parity and body condition score (BCS) of cows, and calving date, were collected from 320 cows in eight dairy herds calving from January 2001 to October 2002. We used logistic regression to evaluate the effects of these factors on endometritis. A stepwise procedure, used to obtain the appropriate model with α=0.05, revealed that retained placenta, metabolic disorders and parity are the important risk factors for endometritis. The mean intervals from calving to first service and conception were prolonged (P<0.01) by 23 and 36 days, respectively, in the endometritis group compared to the non-endometritis group. The first service conception rate was lower (P<0.05) in the endometritis group (47.6%) than in the non-endometritis group (62.6%). The number of services per conception was higher (P<0.05) in the endometritis group (1.9) than in the non-endometritis group (1.6). We conclude that retained placenta, metabolic disorders and cow parity are strongly correlated with the development of postpartum endometritis, which decreases reproductive performance in dairy herds in Korea.

Evaluation of rectal temperature in diagnosis of puerperal metritis in dairy cows

“…These results show more frequent toxaemia in cows with putrid lochia compared to cows with purulent lochia. External symptoms of toxaemia such as lassitude, anorexia, drop in milk yield and dehydratation are not sufficiently accurate because they are present only in some cases (Nakao et al, 1992;Hirvonen et al, 1999;Huszenicza et al, 1999;LeBlanc et al, 2002b;Kim and Kang, 2003;Maizon et al, 2004;Gilbert et al, 2005;Sheldon et al, 2006). In accordance with the literature mentioned, in our trial these symptoms were found only sporadically.…”

Immune Responses during the Peripartum Period in Dairy Cows with Postpartum Endometritis

“…However, cows that cannot eliminate the infection may subsequently develop endometritis [4]. Various risk factors, such as calving problems, a retained placenta, metabolic disorders, and the parity or nutritional status of the cow have been related to the development of postpartum endometritis, although some of them are controversial [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Since many dairy cows experience sudden nutritional and endocrine changes during the peripartum period [14,15], this may lead to aberrant immune function that could predispose the cows to severe uterine infections [16].…”

Studies on Aerobic Bacterial Flora Associated with Postpartum Subclinical Endometritis in Crossbred Dairy Cows

“…This situation could probably be attributed to either weak uterine defense mechanism or poor immune status of the cow. Other factors such as, poor hygiene and stress of housing and management (Kim and Kang, 2003) could also play a role in development of SCE during the late postpartum period.…”

“…The presence of bacterial pathogens in the uterus of cows suffering from SCE has been attributed to various factors during and after calving (Markusfeld, 1987;Hussain et al, 1990;Kim and Kang, 2003). In view of this, a clinical study was designed with the objective to determine common aerobic pathogens associated with postpartum subclinical endometritis in crossbred dairy cows.…”