23/11/2022
Abortion can occur any time after 3 months of gestation but is most common between 4 and 6 months of gestation.
Abortion may be caused by infectious and non-infectious ways.
Infectious causes
The most important infectious abortion agents are:
• Brucellosis ( Major Cause )
• Salmonellosis (particularly Salmonella dublin)
• Listeriosis
• Leptospirosis
• Neospora caninum abortion
• Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD)
• Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR)
• Campylobacteriosis
• Fungal/mycotic abortion
• Epizootic/chlamydial abortion
• Trichomoniasis
Non Infectious causes
• Drug-induced (prostaglandins)
• Insemination/intra-uterine infusion
• Hypothyroidism
• Trauma/stress (transport, noise, veterinary treatment etc.)
• High fever and endotoxins (toxic plants, nitrate/nitrite, fungal toxins, other disease)
• Nutritional (malnutrition, vitamin A/selenium/vitamin E deficiency, goitre)
• Twin pregnancy
• Genetic (malformation)
Both non-specific and specific infectious causes of abortion can lead to "abortion storms" in a herd, whereas the miscellaneous causes often result in sporadic, individual cases.
