Causes of fetal death in the Flemish cattle herd in Brazil

Vet World Vol.16 April-2023 Article-13

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(4): 766-772

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.766-772

Lucas Marian¹, Jéssica Aline Withoeft¹, Leonardo da Silva Costa¹, Luiza Ramos Ribeiro¹, Isadora Cristina Melo¹, Raquel Silva Alves², Letícia Ferreira Baumbach², Maicon Gaissler Lorena Pinto³, Alessandra Snak⁴, Luiz Claudio Miletti⁵, Sandra Maria Ferraz⁶, Ricardo Antônio Pilegi Sfaciotte⁶, Cláudio Wageck Canal², and Renata Assis Casagrande¹

1. Laboratory of Animal Pathology, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
2. Laboratory of Veterinary Virology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
3. Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecuária e Extensão Rural de Santa Catarina (EPAGRI-SC), Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
4. Laboratory of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, UDESC, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
5. Laboratory of Biochemistry of Hemoparasites and Vectors, UDESC, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
6. Center for Animal Microbiological Diagnosis, UDESC, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

Background and Aim: Flemish cattle in Brazil are on the brink of extinction and are found only in one herd in Lages, Santa Catarina State. This study aimed to uncover the reasons for the recurring abortions in the Flemish cattle herd.

Materials and Methods: Seventeen Flemish fetuses underwent postmortem examinations, with samples collected for histopathology and microbiology culture tests, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for Neospora caninum, and reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) test for bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) from 2015 to 2020.

Results: Of the 17 fetuses, N. caninum was the most common diagnosis and was found in 88% (15/17). One fetus (5.8%) had a coinfection with N. caninum and Citrobacter amalonaticus, leading to fibrinonecrotic pericarditis. All fetuses tested negative for BVDV by RT-PCR. Of the 107 dams tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay, 26 (25.2%) were anti-N. caninum seropositive, with 17 (65.4%) aborting and 5 (19.2%) having estrus repetition. Reverse transcription-PCR results showed that 9 (8.4%) of the serum samples collected from dams tested positive, which tested follow-up test 3 months later, indicating a BVDV transient infection. The factors that contributed to neosporosis included dogs’ access to pastures and improper disposal of fetal remains, which made it easier for dogs to consume them.

Conclusion: This study warns the occurrence of N. caninum as a cause of reproductive disorders that can lead to abortion in the studied Flemish cattle herd. Keywords: abortion, endangered breeds, pathology, protozoan, reproductive disorders.

Keywords: abortion, endangered breeds, pathology, protozoan, reproductive disorders.

How to cite this article: Marian L, Withoeft JA, Costa LS, Ribeiro LR, Melo IC, Alves RS, Baumbach LF, Pinto MGL, Snak A, Miletti LC, Ferraz SM, Sfaciotte RAP, Canal CW, and Casagrande RA (2023) Causes of fetal death in the Flemish cattle herd in Brazil, Veterinary World, 16(4): 766-772.

Received: 09-11-2022 Accepted: 09-03-2023 Published online: 14-04-2023

Corresponding author: E-mail: renata.casagrande@udesc.br

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.766-772

Copyright: Marian, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.