Occurrence of subclinical endometritis in dairy cattle and effect on reproductive efficiency

ABSTRACT

Background: Subclinical endometritis (SE) have a negative impact on fertility due to an absence of clinical signs which difficult its diagnosis and treatment. The prevalence and impact of the disease on the reproductive status of dairy herds is not known in the region, the objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of the disease and its effect on the reproductive efficiency in cows of the dairy area from Putumayo State, Colombia.Materials, Methods & Results: Cross-sectional study was made of 166 dairy cows from 30 days postpartum in the municipalities Santiago, Sibundoy, Colon, and San Francisco. Reproductive evaluation and endometrial cytology were made to establish the SE prevalence determining subsequently the number of open days. Cow whit more than 120 days in milk (DIM) and without confirmed pregnancy was defined as “not reproductive efficiency”. Association between SE and reproductive efficiency was established through Odds Ratio from contingency tables. Bias and confusion control was made through stratified analysis. Results showed 32 cows without changes in reproductive clinical evaluation and inflammatory changes in cytological evaluation (PMNn >5%) for a SE prevalence of 19.27%. Disease occurs most frequently in Colón (23.10%) but the frequency of the disease was not different among the regions (P > 0.05). The group of animals with the greatest days open (DO) mean (161 DIM) had a normal ovarian function and subclinical endometritis. The 6.6% of cows had a poor reproductive prognosis (subclinical endometritis, anestrous and 144 DIM). For the stratified analysis (controlling by anestrus) was estimated the crude OR (OR 5.93; P < 0.05; CI 95% 2.56-14.6) and adjusted ORMH (OR 5.78; P < 0.05; CI 95% 2.39-13.9).[...]