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Mycoplasma species in vaginas of dairy cows before and after exposure to bulls and their association with conception.
- Source :
-
Journal of dairy science [J Dairy Sci] 2020 Dec; Vol. 103 (12), pp. 11795-11805. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Oct 09. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Mycoplasma species can colonize the urogenital tract of dairy cattle. However, interrelationships between Mycoplasma spp. and reproductive performance in dairy herds are unclear. In this study, we measured apparent prevalences of Mycoplasma spp. in the vaginas of dairy cows (n = 629) pre- and post-bull exposure in dairy herds with and without Mycoplasma bovis clinical disease (n = 5 herds), and assessed associations between variables describing reproductive performance and consequent Mycoplasma spp. isolation. Mycoplasma spp. were infrequently isolated from the vagina pre- (1.9%; 12/629) and post-bull (3.2%; 20/629) exposure. Of the mycoplasmas isolated, Mycoplasma bovigenitalium was isolated most frequently (87.5%; 28/32), followed by Mycoplasma californicum (9.3%; 3/32). Mycoplasma bovis was only isolated from one cow. We were unable to provide any evidence of venereal transmission of M. bovis in cows in M. bovis-infected herds that use natural service bulls. There was an insufficient number of cows with Mycoplasma spp. in the vagina pre-bull exposure to assess effects on subsequent reproductive performance. Cows that had not conceived before post-bull exposure sampling had much greater odds (odds ratio 14.8; 95% confidence interval 4.2 to 52.3) of having a Mycoplasma sp. isolated from the vagina at this time compared with those that had conceived. Also, within those that had conceived, delayed conception increased the odds of having a Mycoplasma spp. isolated from the vagina at the post-bull exposure sampling by a factor of 1.62 for every additional week not pregnant. The likely cause of these findings is that cows that remain not pregnant for longer are more likely to be served by a bull (likely repeatedly) and subsequently become colonized with a Mycoplasma sp. (mostly M. bovigenitalium) through venereal transmission. In dairy herds that use bulls, there is a greater chance of isolating a Mycoplasma sp. (mostly M. bovigenitalium) after a period of bull breedings from the vaginas of cows that have remained nonpregnant for longer during the bull breeding period.<br /> (© 2020, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. and Fass Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Cattle
Cattle Diseases epidemiology
Cattle Diseases transmission
Female
Fertilization
Male
Mycoplasma classification
Mycoplasma Infections epidemiology
Mycoplasma Infections microbiology
Mycoplasma Infections transmission
Mycoplasma bovis isolation & purification
Pregnancy
Prevalence
Reproduction
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial microbiology
Cattle Diseases microbiology
Mycoplasma isolation & purification
Mycoplasma Infections veterinary
Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Bacterial veterinary
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1525-3198
- Volume :
- 103
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Journal of dairy science
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 33041030
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2020-18758