Sero-prevalence Evolution of Infectious Bovine Rinotraqueitis (ibr) and Bovine Viral Diarrhea (bvd) in Dairy Cattle Population of the Southern Region of Uruguay,

The Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) and the Infectious Bovine Rinotraqueitis (IBR) are two diseases of viral etiology, highly contagious, of easy transmission and of wide distribution through out the world . The reproductive loses may well be the principal consequence associated with the infection by these agents as they are two of the main diseases that affect reproduction all over the most important dairy region of Uruguay. At present, the excessive use of conventional vaccines has distorted the serological results, making the evaluation of the real incidence of these diseases difficult. Therefore, except for the areas where the vaccination is administered, the presence of antibodies shows the exposure of the animals to such viruses. Moreover, it is worth noting that in Uruguay there is no National System of Information and Monitoring of Animal Health that deals with this type of reproductive diseases that mainly affect the herds and not human health or trade. As a result, the country is facing a decline in the efficiency of the animal productive systems. In addition, as sanitary aspects have not been considered in the development of national technology packages, the impact of these problems has not been dimensioned or quantified. The aim of this study was to establish the seroprevalence for BVD and IBR in dairy cattle population of the southern region of Uruguay, by means of comparing two transversal seroepidemiologic studies, between 1998-2003.