Causes of death in dairy cows in Rio Grande do Sul

ABSTRACT:

The causes of death in dairy cows in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, were analyzed through a retrospective study of the necropsy database from 600 dairy cows necropsied from 1998-2012. From a total of cows analyzed 67.5% were from metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, followed by Northeast (12.4%) and Eastern-center regions (10.4%) of the state. The cows were classified in breeds, which consisted in 76.5% Holstein, 9.8% Jersey and 13.7% mixed breed between these two. Conclusive diagnosis was found in 85.8% of the cases. Inflammatory and parasitic diseases were the main cause of death including 48.2% conclusive cases, followed by neoplasms (17.5%), poisoning and toxinfections (15.9%), metabolic and nutritional diseases (8.5%), physical agents (7.4%) and sun-dry conditions (2.5%). The main specific diseases diagnosed in each category were tick fever (120 cases), lymphoma (77 cases), Senecio spp. poisoning (23 cases), traumatic pericarditis (19 cases), ketosis and bloat (11 cases each), and lightning strike (5 cases).

INDEX TERMS:
Diseases of cattle; dairy cows; retrospective study; pathology; Rio Grande do Sul