Skip to main content
Figure 1 | BMC Veterinary Research

Figure 1

From: Why do farmers and veterinarians not report all bovine abortions, as requested by the clinical brucellosis surveillance system in France?

Figure 1

Difference between the official definition of abortion and the definition of farmers and veterinarians. Abortion is defined by French regulations as an interruption of pregnancy occurring from 42 days of pregnancy to term, or as the death of a calf within 48 hours of its birth. A recent study of the time between artificial insemination and calving in dairy cattle estimated that the rates of abortion occurring in mid-pregnancy and late pregnancy were about 6.4% and 5.1% respectively [20]. As only 20 to 30% of abortions are detected visually [21], only 70% to 80% of these aborting cows are detected by field actors, i.e. 8 to 9.2% of pregnant cows. Furthermore, the 7.3% or so of calves that die within 48 hours after birth are supposed to be systematically detected [22].

Back to article page