فرامرز قراگزلو

Prototheca spp. belongs to the family Chlorellaceae and can cause mastitis in dairy cattle herds. Several Prototheca species could be isolated in different parts of the dairy herds.

The objectives were to determine: (1) the investigation status of bulk milk tank Prototheca Spp prevalence in industrial dairy cattle herds in different area of Iran. And (2). To evaluate the fungal agent prevalence of bulk milk tank of dairy cattle herds in different seasons.

Bulk milk tank for the presence of Prototheca and fungal agents from 165 industrial dairy cattle herds complexes were tested. The population of each herd was about 850–3500 Holstein dairy cows. The samples were taken from 32 cities and 16 provinces of Iran, respectively. In total, almost 66800 Holstein dairy cows were repre-sented. The population of lactating cows included about 25800. Samples were cultured on sabouraud glucose agar (SGA) medium with chloramphenicol (100 mg/L).

Only 8 (4.84%) out of 165 samples were isolated for Prototheca spp. It had been isolated in different seasons. They were 2, 4, 1, and 1 samples in spring, summer, autumn and winter, respectively. Candida, Fusarium, and Trichosporon spp. were isolated from 137, 2 and 1 samples, respectively. According to the obtained results, Prototheca and fungal agents are present in bulk milk tanks of industrial dairy cattle herds in different provinces of Iran.

It is concluded that exposure to Prototheca and different fungal agents could be common in the dairy cattle herds in Iran. The results are important as dairy cattle health and human sanitation hazar.

Previous studies have indicated negative association of anogenital distance (AGD) with fertility in dairy cows; however, the mechanism of inverse relationship is not completely understood. In this regard, post-partum uterine infections and their corresponding risk factors could diminish fertility of cows, yet there has been no research exploring the relationship between AGD and postpartum disorders.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between AGD and postpartum reproduc-tive performance in dairy cows.

AGD of Holstein dairy cows of a commercial dairy herd (n = 290) was measured in millimeter at the first postpartum examination (days 28 to 32 postpartum). The cows were classified into three categories based on the AGD length, including short (20% of cows with lowest values), intermediate (60% of cows with moderate values) and long (20% of cows with highest values) AGDs. Additionally, data of postpartum reproductive variables were retrieved form the herd database. Data was analyzed using SAS software version 9.4.

The rate of dystocia, twinning, retention of fetal membranes, puerperal metritis and clinical endome-tritis, calf birth weight, and days to first service did not differ among the various AGD categories (P>0.05). However, proportion of male offspring was lower in the short AGD cows than intermediate and long AGD cows (P<0.05). Furthermore, the first service conception rate was greater in the intermediate anogenital distance group than short and long anogenital distance groups (P<0.05).

In conclusion, the present study showed suboptimal first postpartum conception rate in the cows with minimal and maximal length of anogenital distance and indicated that this inferior fertility was not mediated through alteration in the rate of postpartum reproductive disorders

In mare, different methods of earlier cyclicity induction and hastening first ovulation of the year have been reported.
The goal of present study was to investigate the effect of progesterone (Cue-mate®) on synchronization and acceleration the first ovulation of the year in winter anestrous mares under artificial lighting system.
After detection of anestrus mares, artificial lighting regimen of 16h light was conducted since early December for both treatment and control groups mares. After detecting of 25 mm follicle on the ovary, treatment group mares received Cue-Mate and examined through rectal ultrasound until follicle reached in size of 35mm, when Cue-mate was removed. Daily ultrasound examination and teasing were done until detection of ovulation.
Based on our results, no significant difference in rate of ovulation (66% vs 60%) and size of ovulatory follicle were existed between treatment and control group. In addition to, despite of decreasing time interval of follicular growth from 25 mm to 35 mm (8.33±0.88 vs 10.75±2.28 in treatment and control groups respectively) and from each of these sizes to ovulation size, no significant difference was existed between treatment and control groups.
This was the first preliminary report of investigating the effect of progesterone plus artificial lighting on hastening first ovulation of the year in early winter anestrous. It seems more studies with considering the greater number of mares in different ages are needed.

Perosomus elumbis is an occasional congenital anomaly of cattle, swine, sheep, and dogs with unknown etiology. This congenital abnormality occurs in both sexes. A dead Holstein calf characterized by musculoskeletal and external genitalia abnormalities was referred to the large animal hospital of University of Tehran. Radiographic evaluation and subsequent dissection revealed that the vertebral column was truncated at the level of first lumbar vertebra (L1). Moreover, L2-L5, sacrum and coccygeal vertebrae were absent. The dorsum of the lumbosacral region contained only soft tissues. Urogenital tract was incomplete, and it contained agenesis of the ovaries, uterine tubes, cervix, and vulva concurrent with unilateral umbilical artery agenesis. Small and large intestine contained blind-ended sacs. No testes, scrotum, and penis were found. The intact ureter was attached to a thin-walled fluid fill sac. The laboratory finding showed that the pH of the fluid was 6 and contained hemoglobin, white blood cells, bacteria, a few red blood cells, oxalate crystalline, and epithelial cells. It was concluded that the collected fluid was urine. This is the first report of perosomus elumbis in a Holstein calf having a lot of visceral abnormalities in Iran.

The objective of the present study was to compare the efficacy of conventional and extended intramammary (IMM) therapy of persistent subclinical mastitis in lactating dairy cattle using nafcillin-penicillin-dihydrostreptomycin combination (NPD). Sixty-five dairy cows with 126 infected quarters were enrolled in the study. Infected cows were allocated randomly to 1 of 3 different treatment regimens: (1) conventional group: NPD administered IMM 3 times at 24-h intervals (20 infected cows، 43 intramammary infections [IMI])، (2) extended group: NPD administered IMM 6 times at 24-h intervals (23 cows، 43 IMI)، and (3) untreated control group (22 cows، 40 IMI). The overall bacteriological cure (BC) rates for subclinical IMI were 86. 04%، 100%، and 20% for the conventional، extended and the control groups، respectively; indicating a higher BC rate (P<0. 0001) for the treated groups than the control group. Significant difference (P=0. 029) concerning the BC rate was also observed between the extended and the conventional groups. Significant difference (P=0. 0021) in somatic cell count (SCC) was detected between the extended and the control group. Fat percentage increased in the conventional (P=0. 029) and in the extended (P<0. 0001) groups، and protein percentage increased only in the extended group (P=0. 0016). There was no significant difference in posttreatment milk production between the groups (P>0. 05). Results of this study indicate that NPD therapy was effective in eliminating subclinical IMI in lactating dairy cows، and that extended therapy enhanced BC rate and reduced SCC.

The objective of the present study was to determine whether there was an association between the in vitro antimicrobial sensitivity test results of subclinical mastitis pathogens and bacteriological cure following intramammary treatment using a combination of nafcillin, penicillin, and streptomycin (NPS). Eighty-six intramammary pathogens from 43 cows were examined in this study. Most intramammary infections were due to coagulase-negative staphylococci, coliforms, and environmental streptococci. The antibiotic sensitivity to NPS was determined using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Bacteriological cure rates for sensitive, intermediate, and resistant isolates in the standard treatment group (3 intramammary infusions of NPS once daily) were 84.4, 88.9, and 100%, respectively. These figures in the extended treatment group (6 intramammary infusions of NPS once daily) were 100% for the 3 categories. Bacteriological cure was not associated with the sensitivity test result. Based on this study, Kirby-Bauer sensitivity test results were not useful as predictors of the bacteriological outcome of subclinical mastitis treated with intramammary NPS.

To determine the prevalence of bacterial mastitis in cattle, milk samples positive for California mastitis test (CMT) were cultured during a period of almost 4 years. The bacterial species isolated from 2904 milk samples studied were coagulase negative Staphylococcus sp. in 879 (30.27%) samples, Streptococcus agalactiae in 642 (22.11%), S. dysgalactiae in 332 (11.43%), E. coli in 295 (10.16%), Staphylococcus aureus in 84 (2.89%), Bacillus cereus in 51 (1.76%), Arcanobacterium pyogenes in 31 (1.07%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 6 (0.21%), Klebsiella pneumoniae in 4 (0.14%), Pasteurella multocida in 1 (0.03%) and Mycoplasma sp. in another (0.03%) sample. No growth was found in 578 samples (19.90%). Thirty-one (37%) of 84 animals which were infected with S. aureus, had acute infection. We found that contamination of milk with coagulase negative staphylococci are the most frequent bacterial infection in dairy cattle around Tehran; it mostly causes subacute form of the disease. S. agalactiae, S. dysgalactiae and E. coli are the second, third and the fourth causative agents.