Assessment of two essential elements of BVDV control on selected Flemish dairy and beef farms

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is one of the most important viruses to cause disease in cattle worldwide. The virus is endemically present in Belgium. Clinical diagnosis of BVDV infection is difficult. Therefore, monitoring through testing is necessary to detect the presence of the virus on farms. As vaccination alone does not suffice for eradication, a combination of measures is required for successful control. Via a questionnaire, the BVDV policy on 241 selected Flemish cattle farms was investigated. This revealed some striking results. For the majority of the herds, the BVDV status was unknown (63%), And only 23% had a monitoring program in place. Furthermore, on seven out of ten (71%) BVDV-vaccinating farms, vaccination against BVDV was implemented as a strategy without knowing the actual BVDV status

Pseudomonasinfectie na keizersnede bij Belgisch witblauwe runderen = Pseudomonas infection after caesarian section in Belgian blue cattle

In this case report, botryomycosis of the uterus is described as the cause of fertility problems in cattle after caesarian section. Several cows of three Belgian Blue cattle herds failed to become pregnant after repeated artificial or natural insemination. On the uterus of some of the these cows, nodes of 1 cm in diameter were found on rectal examination. Anatomopathological and bacteriological examination of two affected uteri together with on-farm investigations indicated botryomycosis caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa after caesarian section as the most probable cause of the infertility. Prevention was primarily based on improving the hygienic procedures at surgery

Late abortus en oedeem van de placenta door afsnoering van de navelstreng bij een koe

Umbilical cord constriction/torsion in the bovine can result in fetal death and abortion, mostly during the last month of gestation. The resulting placental edema can cause major complications in case of caesarean section. This case report describes a late abortion and placental edema associated with umbilical cord constriction in a Belgian White Blue cow

Herd-level animal management factors associated with the occurrence of bovine neonatal pancytopenia in calves in a multicountry study

Since 2007, mortality associated with a previously unreported haemorrhagic disease has been observed in young calves in several European countries. The syndrome, which has been named ‘bovine neonatal pancytopenia’ (BNP), is characterised by thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia and a panmyelophthisis. A herd-level case-control study was conducted in four BNP affected countries (Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands) to identify herd management risk factors for BNP occurrence. Data were collected using structured face-to-face and telephone interviews of farm managers and their local veterinarians. In total, 363 case farms and 887 control farms were included in a matched multivariable conditional logistic regression analysis. Case-control status was strongly associated with the odds of herd level use of the vaccine PregSure® BVD (PregSure, Pfizer Animal Health) (matched adjusted odds ratio (OR) 107.2; 95% CI: 41.0–280.1). This was also the case for the practices of feeding calves colostrum from the calf’s own dam (OR 2.0; 95% CI: 1.1–3.4) or feeding pooled colostrum (OR 4.1; 95% CI: 1.9–8.8). Given that the study had relatively high statistical power and represented a variety of cattle production and husbandry systems, it can be concluded with some confidence that no other herd level management factors are competent causes for a sufficient cause of BNP occurrence on herd level. It is suggested that genetic characteristics of the dams and BNP calves should be the focus of further investigations aimed at identifying the currently missing component causes that together with PregSure vaccination and colostrum feeding represent a sufficient cause for occurrence of BNP in calves