Relationship Between Abortions and Seroprevalences to Selected Infectious Agents in Dairy Cows

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Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine whether the occurrence of abortion is related to the seroprevalence of abortion-causing infectious agents. In a cross-sectional study, cattle from dairy farms in Switzerland that were defined as having an abortion problem were divided into two groups: cows with a history of abortion within the previous 3 months (cases) and cows without a history of abortion (controls). A positive titre to Leptospira spp. was associated with an increased probability of being a case (OR = 1.74, 95% CI = 1.21-2.47). There were interactions between Coxiella burnetti titre and parity, and between Chlamydia psittaci and C. burnetti titre and breed. Multiparous cases after the second lactation with a positive titre to C. burnetti were less likely (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.22-0.82) to be cases. Swiss Browns (Swiss Braunvieh and Brown Swiss) with a positive titre to C. psittaci and Swiss Browns with a positive titre to C. burnetti were more likely (OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.13-2.37 and OR = 1.79, 95% CI = 1.15-2.78, respectively) to be cases. Parity alone was not associated with the occurrence of abortion.