Theriogenology
Volume 61, Issue 6 , Pages 1085-1099, 15 April 2004

Effect of bovine viral diarrhea virus infection on fertility of dairy heifers

  • Claudia A. Muñoz-Zanzi

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Present address: Department of Clinical and Population Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1365 Gortner Ave. St. Paul, MN 55108, USA. Tel.: +1-612-625-7755; fax: +1-612-625-6241.
    • ,
  • Mark C. Thurmond

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
    • ,
  • Sharon K. Hietala

      Affiliations

    • California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA

Received 26 February 2003; accepted 2 June 2003.

Abstract 

A prospective field study in heifers from birth to first breeding was undertaken on two commercial dairies to assess the effect of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) congenital and post-natal infection (PNI) on fertility. A high BVDV Type 2 antibody titer (1:4096) at 10 months of age was associated with 32 more days to conceive, compared with a low titer (1:128). Conversely, infection with BVDV by 5–6 months of age and high BVDV Type 2 titers 1 month before conception or breeding was associated with improved fertility. Heifers with evidence of congenital BVDV infection had lower fertility than non-infected heifers (15–42 days longer time-to-first AI), which depended on BVDV Type 2 titers at 10 months of age. Neospora caninum infection was associated with additional services per conception (SPC) and Leptospira interrogans infection was associated with a delay in the time-to-first breeding. It appears that under field conditions, the effect of subclinical BVDV infection on subsequent heifer fertility may be due to a complex of interrelationships among multiple BVDV infections that depend on the type and timing of infection relative to reproductive development and events.

Keywords:  BVDV, Fertility, Neospora caninum, Leptospira

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PII: S0093-691X(03)00295-4

doi:10.1016/j.theriogenology.2003.06.003

Theriogenology
Volume 61, Issue 6 , Pages 1085-1099, 15 April 2004

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