Abortion can determine significant production losses in cattle breeding. Several viral, bacterial, protozoal and fungal organisms, as well as management and genetic factors, can be listed among the causes of bovine abortion. Veterinarians usually pay particular attention to infective abortions of epizootic nature. Despite fungi being involved in bovine abortions, they are not commonly included in diagnostic protocols. Various factors contribute to the underestimation of the involvement of such pathogens including their sporadic nature (the disease rarely affects more than one or two animals in a herd), the lack of characteristic clinical symptoms in dams and foetuses (with the exception of retained placentas) and their diagnostic complexity requiring multiple approaches (mycological culture, microscopical examination of potassium hydroxide-treated tissue imprints, histopathology, etc). In cattle, abortion associated with mycotic placentitis is mainly due to infections caused by opportunistic filamentous fungi including Aspergillus fumigatus, other Aspergillus species and zygomycetes (Absidia, Mortierella, Rhizopus) or yeasts such as Candida sp. To date, mycotic abortion can't be prevented; in uterus disinfection treatments can be reccomended to reduce the risk of complications. The only useful suggestion to limit the frequency of abortive events is to influence the factors involved in mycotic abortion by applying direct prophylaxis measures to reduce the receptivity of the host (biotic factors) and to improve the quality of food, shelter, etc (abiotic factors). In this paper the aim of the Authors is to highlight the main etio-pathogenetic, epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic aspects of mycotic abortions occurring in cattle, in order to increase the awareness to this event and to suggest specific strategies for its prevention. Furthermore, the Authors wish to revitalize the interest in this particular scientific field, often underestimated in veterinary medicine.
L’aborto ad eziologia micotica nella specie bovina.
MORETTI, Annabella;MORETTA, IOLANDA;MORGANTI, GIULIA;LEONARDI, Leonardo;VERONESI, FABRIZIA
2013
Abstract
Abortion can determine significant production losses in cattle breeding. Several viral, bacterial, protozoal and fungal organisms, as well as management and genetic factors, can be listed among the causes of bovine abortion. Veterinarians usually pay particular attention to infective abortions of epizootic nature. Despite fungi being involved in bovine abortions, they are not commonly included in diagnostic protocols. Various factors contribute to the underestimation of the involvement of such pathogens including their sporadic nature (the disease rarely affects more than one or two animals in a herd), the lack of characteristic clinical symptoms in dams and foetuses (with the exception of retained placentas) and their diagnostic complexity requiring multiple approaches (mycological culture, microscopical examination of potassium hydroxide-treated tissue imprints, histopathology, etc). In cattle, abortion associated with mycotic placentitis is mainly due to infections caused by opportunistic filamentous fungi including Aspergillus fumigatus, other Aspergillus species and zygomycetes (Absidia, Mortierella, Rhizopus) or yeasts such as Candida sp. To date, mycotic abortion can't be prevented; in uterus disinfection treatments can be reccomended to reduce the risk of complications. The only useful suggestion to limit the frequency of abortive events is to influence the factors involved in mycotic abortion by applying direct prophylaxis measures to reduce the receptivity of the host (biotic factors) and to improve the quality of food, shelter, etc (abiotic factors). In this paper the aim of the Authors is to highlight the main etio-pathogenetic, epidemiological, clinical and diagnostic aspects of mycotic abortions occurring in cattle, in order to increase the awareness to this event and to suggest specific strategies for its prevention. Furthermore, the Authors wish to revitalize the interest in this particular scientific field, often underestimated in veterinary medicine.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
