Progesterone supplementation during the time of pregnancy recognition after artificial insemination improves conception rates in high-producing dairy cows.

This study examines the possible effects of progesterone (P4) supplementation during the time of pregnancy recognition, from Days 15 to 17 post-artificial insemination (AI), on reproductive performance in high-producing dairy cows. Cows in their 15th day post-AI were alternately assigned to a control, no-treatment group (C: n = 257) or treatment group (P4: n = 287) on a weekly rotational basis according to the chronologic order of their gynecologic visit. On the basis of the odds ratio, the interaction treatment × previous placenta retention had a significant effect (P = 0.

Coxiella burnetii antibody dynamics in heifers born to vaccinated versus non-vaccinated dams in a chronically infected dairy herd.

This study was designed to compare Coxiella burnetii antibody dynamics in heifers born to vaccinated or non-vaccinated dams in a single high-producing dairy herd chronically infected with the bacterium. Antibody dynamics were examined from birth to the postpartum period in replacement heifers (n = 14) born to non-vaccinated dams (n = 7) or to dams that had been vaccinated on gestation days 171-177 (n = 7) and 192-198. Samples of blood, milk, faeces, vaginal fluid, colostrum and cotyledons (the latter two only at parturition) were obtained in the dams over the period from gestation days 171-177 to postpartum days 91-97.

Effects of long-term vaccination against Coxiella burnetii on the fertility of high-producing dairy cows.

The impact of long-term vaccination against Coxiella burnetii on the fertility of cows was studied. Double vaccinations three weeks apart at the start of the third trimester of gestation in each of two consecutive pregnancies were applied. The final study population consisted of 410 cows after the first vaccination round.

Coxiella burnetii total immunoglobulin G, phase I and phase II immunoglobulin G antibodies, and bacterial shedding in young dams in persistently infected dairy herds.

The current study examines Coxiella burnetii infection patterns in young dairy dams around the calving period in persistently infected high-producing dairy herds. Infection patterns were determined in terms of total immunoglobulin G (IgG) and phase-specific IgG antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and bacterial shedding by real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). On days 171-177 of gestation, at parturition, and on days 15-21 and 91-97 postpartum, 7 first-parity cows and 7 second-parity cows were sampled for serology and qPCR.

Does Coxiella burnetii affect reproduction in cattle? A clinical update.

Q fever is a zoonosis produced by Coxiella burnetii, a bacterium that is widely distributed worldwide. Domestic ruminants are the most important source of C. burnetii for human infection.