Review of common causes of abortion in dairy cattle in Ethiopia

Abortion in dairy cattle may be caused by infectious and non-infectious agents. Infectious causes of abortion in dairy cattle include brucellosis, leptospirosis, listeriosis, Q fever, bovine viral diarrhea, mycotic abortion and neosporosis. Non-infectious causes of abortion in dairy cattle are genetic and non-genetic disorder. Risk factors associated with abortion in dairy cattle are genetic, environmental, management, geographical factors and infectious factors. Abortion in dairy cows brings about breeding and productive damages. Abortions cause significant economic loss to dairy farm. These losses can be attributed to loss of replacement calves, reduced milk production, costs of treatment, feeding of animals and premature culling of productive cows and heifers. Diagnosis of bovine abortion includes the collection of a complete history of the case and relevant epidemiological data and collected sample for analysis. However, determining the cause of bovine abortion is difficult as abortions are caused by numerous infectious and noninfectious factors. Status of abortion and breeds affected by abortion in Ethiopia were also reviewed.