Female genital tract abnormalities of Zebu cattle slaughtered at Bahir-Dar Town, north-west Ethiopia

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the type and prevalence of abnormalities occurring in the female reproductive tracts of 201 Zebu cattle of Fogera type (161 cows and 40 heifers) slaughtered at Bahir-Dar town, north-west Ethiopia. Out of the 201 female genital tracts collected and examined, abnormalities were recorded in 74 (36.8%). The most common abnormalities encountered were ovariobursal adhesion (5.5%), endometritis (3.9%) and cystic ovaries (3.5%). Other abnormalities recorded were ovarian hypoplasia, vaginitis, cervicitis, tortuous cervical canal, mucometra, vaginal cyst, parovarian cyst, hypoplastic cervical rings, cervical cyst, freemartins, closed external cervical os, uterine and oviducts adhesion, cystic uterine tube, remnant of retained fetal membrane and cyst in the uterine wall. The prevalence of the abnormalities was significantly (p < 0.05) higher in parous than in nulliparous cows. Moreover, evidence of ovarian cyclicity was found in 51.6% and 30% of non-pregnant parous and nulliparous cows examined, respectively. This study revealed that reproductive tract abnormalities seem to be an important problem with possible subsequent infertility in Fogera-type Zebu cows in the study area.