Prevalence of shedding and antibody to Coxiella burnetii in post-partum dairy cows and its association with reproductive tract diseases and performance: A pilot study

The bacterium Coxiella burnetii has been associated with reproduction disorders in dairy cattle. A cross-sectional study was conducted Quebec, Canada, to estimate the prevalence of C. cows from RT-PCR-positive and/or ELISA-positive herds. As a secondary objective, associations between burnetii-positivity and three reproductive outcomes (purulent vaginal discharge, cytological endometritis, success at first service) were assessed. total 202 post-parturient nine herds sampled 35 ± 7 days milk. Vaginal mucus composite milk collected each cow screened for presence by real-time PCR (RT-PCR) ELISA, respectively. Purulent discharge endometritis evaluated using Metricheck device modified cytobrush, insemination postpartum done following an ovulation synchronization protocol around 70 milk, service recorded. Multilevel logistic regressions adjusted parity used model purulent according status. All RT-PCR-assayed samples burnetii-negative. positive result anti-C. antibodies detection obtained 25/202 doubtful 4/202 samples. After adjustment sampling weights, ELISA-assayed gave estimated overall 12.9 % (CI = 6.1-19.6 %) 1.4 0.0-3.3 %). proportion lower (0%) compared second (17.1 or third (20.0 ELISA positivity not statistically significant, perhaps due limited sample size, but could be as pilot large-scale studies investigating impact infection on