A survey of the views of veterinary practitioners on the infectious causes of bovine abortions in two separate geographical areas in Ireland

Abstract

In a questionnaire based cross sectional study the main infectious causes of Bovine abortions in two geographical areas in Ireland were analysed. The expert views of 69 veterinary practitioners from Central and Northern Ireland were examined. Salmonella was identified as the main cause of abortions in Central Ireland and Leptospirosis the main cause in the North each responsible for almost a quarter of the abortions in the respective areas (22%). The two most common identifiable causes of abortion in both study areas were bacterial and viral infections.