Prevalence of bovine viral diarrhoea, bovine herpesvirus type 1 and 4 infections in repeat breeding cows in Western Turkey

Abstract

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis and Bovine Herpesvirus Type 4 infections are widely known viral infections as the reproductive system pathogen in cattle. The purpose of this study was to investigate the presence and prevalence of these infections in Repeat Breeding diagnosed cows. A total of 139 blood samples were collected from nine different dairy herds in Western Turkey. All sampled animals were clinically healthy but not become pregnant even though they were three to eleven times artificially inseminated. The samples were controlled serologically for BHV1 and BHV4 using ELISA test, 2% and 3.9% proportions were detected, respectively. These values were found to be very low in comparison to other studies in Turkey. Out of 139, 81 (58.2%) cows were found to be seropositive for BVDV, and the percentage was above the 70% in six herds. BVD antigen was detected in two animals in a herd with 71.4% antibody rates. Antigen positive animals were sampled and tested again four weeks later and persistent viremia were confirmed. In conclusion, BVDV infection may be responsible for repeat breeding in studied herds.