Accompainment of the evolution of Leptospira spp. and Neospora caninum infection in dairy cattle herd: evaluation of the productive and reproductive aspects

Abstract

The national dairy production represents one of the most expressive agro-industrial systems due to it’s social and economic importance, generating more than three millions employments and adding more than six billions of reais to the Brazilian farming invoicing. This experiment will consist the serological diagnosis to Neospora caninum and Leptospira spp which are agents responsible for great productive and reproductive losses of the flock, and evaluation of its impact on the production. Blood samples will be collected for the serology tests during six consecutive months. Four groups are going to be formed after the serological tests results. The groups are going to be: Group 1 - 30 cows not reagents to all tested Leptospira spp serovars and negatives on the IFAT to neosporosis; Group 2 - 30 cows reagents to one or more Leptospira spp serovars and negative to neosporosis on the IFAT; Group 3 - 30 cows not reagents to all tested Leptospira spp serovars and positive on the IFAT to neosporosis; and Group 4 - 30 cows reagents to one or more Leptospira spp serovars and positive on the IFAT to neosporosis. Each group will be analyzed to the following variables: productive levels (daily production of milk in liters, milk protein and fat levels during the experimentation period), somatic cell counting and microbiological cultures of the reagent animals to leptospirosis, verification of the association between both infections and reproductive performance of the cows. (AU)