Incidence of reproductive and production diseases of cross-bred dairy cattle in Bangladesh

Abstract

Reproductive and production disorders (PD) of cross-bred dairy cattle significantly reduce their productivity which is of great concern of dairy producers worldwide because most reproductive disorders adversely affect the future fertility. The present study was conducted to determine the incidence of some reproductive diseases (RD) like abortion, anoestrus, metritis, repeat breeder, retained placenta and one production disease like clinical mastitis in cross-bred dairy cattle in Shahjadpur upazila of Sirajgonj district in Bangladesh. Two hundred fifty (250) farms having at least two cross-bred dairy cattle were randomly selected for this study using an active surveillance system. The study was conducted over a period of twelve months from March 2012 to February 2013. Epidemiological data and samples from diseased cattle were collected and analyzed. The recorded reproductive disorders were diagnosed and treated by the veterinarians on the basis of history, physical examination, clinical and laboratory findings. The incidence rate, cumulative incidence and seasonal incidence of reproductive (RD) and production (PD) disorders were measured. The overall incidence rate and cumulative incidence of RDs and PDs were 33/tcm (10000 cattle-months at risk) and 3.9% respectively. The incidence rate and cumulative incidence of repeat breeder were highest as 11/tcm and 1.29% respectively followed by anoestrus (7/tcm and 0.81%), metritis (3/tcm and 0.34%), retained placenta (2/tcm and 0.27%) and abortion (2/tcm and 0.20%). The incidence rate and cumulative incidence of clinical mastitis were 8/tcm and 1.0% respectively. A decreasing trend of cumulative incidence of mastitis, metritis and abortion was noted from summer, rainy to winter seasons. The cumulative incidence of anoestrus was highest in rainy (0.34%) then summer (0.27%) and lowest in winter (0.21%). The proportionate incidence was highest for repeat breeder (32.76%) followed by mastitis (25.86%) and anoestrus (20.69%). The incidence of the diseases we reported were low in comparison to the published prevalence of these diseases. When the incidence of a disease is low but animals affected have the condition for a long period of time, the prevalence will be high relative to the incidence. Repeat breeder, anoestrus and mastitis should get top priority in reproductive disease research to gain more knowledge and in extension to control them in Bangladesh context. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjvm.v11i1.17730 Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2013). 11 (1): 31-36