Prevalence of trichomoniasis in dairy cows with some reproductive disorders in aydin province of Turkey

Abstract

Trichomoniasis is sexually transmitted disease in cattle. Causative agent of trichomoniasis is Tritrichomonas foetus that colonizes only in the reproductive tract mucosa of cattle and causes from mild vaginitis or cervicitis to endometritis, transient or permanent infertility and abortion, leading to economic losses. The parasite is transmitted from infected bulls to heifers/cows during mating. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of T. foetus infection in dairy cows with some reproductive disorders in Aydin Province of Turkey. In this study 164 dairy cows between 2-9 years old suffered from various reproductive disorders (vaginal discharge, metritis, abortus, repeat breeder and anoestrus) were used. For this purpose, smears prepared from the vagina were fixed for 15 min by fixative solution. The slides were then air-dried, stained with Giemsa for 40 min and washed with distilled water. All slides were then examined microscopically. The primary purpose of staining is to optimize the visualization of key anatomic structures to facilitate accurate identification of an organism. The percentage of infected cows was found 8.53% (n = 14). Two out of 7 cows with vaginal discharge, 3 out of 41 cows with metritis, 4 out of 4 cows with abortus and 5 out of 36 cows with repeat breeder were found as T. foetus positive. Anoestrus cows were not positive. © Medwell Journals, 2010.