Infectious sporadic bovine abortions: retrospective analysis

Infectious sporadic abortions in cattle are mainly caused by opportunistic bacteria and fungi usually present in environmental or gastrointestinal and reproductive microbiota of healthy animals. A retrospective analysis was carried out to evaluate the main opportunistic microorganisms involved in bovine abortions recorded at INTA Balcarce (Argentina) from 1997 to 2023, accounting for 2.2% of the total diagnosed etiologies of bovine abortion. The opportunistic agents identified as the cause of abortion in 29 fetuses were bacteria (90%) and fungi (10%). Escherichia coli ( n = 8), Trueperella pyogenes ( n = 5), and Histophilus somni ( n = 4) were the bacterial species most often identified as causing infectious abortions, whereas Aspergillus spp. ( n = 3) was implicated in all fungal abortions identified. Pure culture of bacteria or fungus was achieved from abomasal content and/or lung essential. Main microscopic findings were bronchopneumonia, myo- and epicarditis, meningitis, and portal hepatitis. Herein, we highlight the importance of detecting potential infectious bacteria in cultures to improve etiological diagnosis of bovine abortions associated with compatible microscopic findings to confirm the etiology.