Status of Parturient Paresis (Hypocalcaemia and Milk Fever) on Dairy Farm in Addis Ababa City, Ethiopia

A prospective follow up study was conducted in Addis Ababa town attends on different selected farms for fifteen months from January 2015 to April 2016. The aims of this study were to determine the current status of parturient paresis, associated risk factors, and to estimate the economic loss of parturient paresis that is attributed in dairy herds. Parturient paresis is a condition of third to sixth lactation of high-producing dairy cows. It is associated with parturition, usually within 72 hours of giving birth. Because of the high volume of milk produced during this time and subsequent demand for calcium, these cows often develop hypocalcaemia. During the study a total 532 pregnant cows was followed on different farms with different gestation period. Among the total 532 cows 145 (27%) had affected to parturient paresis, from these, 103 cows (71.15%) showed rapid responses to a single bottle of calcium borogluconate and 14 (9.66%) cows of the cases failed to show responses for calcium borogluconate and all of them died due to ruminal bloat and complete paralysis of respiratory muscles. The prevalence of parturient paresis showed statistically significant difference between number of parity (58%), average production level per day (39%), breed (37%) and time of occurrence (31%; P<0.05). However, all over results there was no statistically significant difference noted among the herd size, farming system, previous parturient paresis and farm hygiene (P>0.05).This study demonstrated that parturient paresis is common in dairy farms in Addis Ababa city and that some of the associated risk factors can be addressed by practical management of dairy cows.