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Infectious Disease as a Cause of Infertility: A Review¹

Zoological Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Research Administration, V. S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Md.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

Diseases impairing reproduction strike at the fundamental operation of cattle husbandry. Heifers late in producing or never producing calves and cows producing calves at longer intervals than normal or never again producing calves, obviously fail to yield their entire potential profit. Fewer calves and lactations, prolonged lactations and dry periods, with maintenance costs constant or only moderately decreased, all contribute to the accumulated loss. Infectious diseases are productive of financial loss to the owner of affected cattle by interfering with coitus, by preventing conception temporarily or permanently, by interrupting pregnancy during any stage from fertilization to parturition, or by causing stillborn, moribund or feeble calves.

The ability to reproduce may be temporarily impaired during the course of any systemic condition associated with general debility or increase in body temperature; in bulls, spermatogenesis may be affected and quantity and quality of semen markedly altered, non-pregnant females may become anestrous, and pregnant females may abort.

¹ Based upon a paper presented in the symposium on Reproductive Problems of Dairy Cattle at the 43rd Annual Meeting.

² Now at School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, University Farm, St. Paul 1, Minnesota.