Seroprevalence of canine neosporosis and bovine viral diarrhoea in dairy cattle in selected regions of Kenya.

Neospora caninum is the causative agent for canine neosporosis (CN), a disease of potential zoonotic importance causing reproductive losses in cattle while causing neuromuscular disease in dogs. Bovine viral diarrhoea on the other hand is caused by the bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) and is one of the most important reproductive diseases of cattle worldwide. In Kenya, these infections are of economic importance due to the losses they cause in farms in which they are diagnosed or are subclinical. Such losses include reduced milk production, reduced conception, early embryonic deaths and abortions which lead to reproductive wastage. This study was conducted between April 2017 and July 2018 and determined the seroprevalence of neoporosis and BVD in select dairy herds in Kenya. Kakamega, Nandi and Makueni Counties from where dairy farms were purposively sampled were used. Serum samples were collected from randomly selected dairy animals aged at least 2 years in the selected farms and screened for BVDV and CN antibodies. Seroprevalence of N. caninum was 24.1% (n = 552) and BVD, 52.3% (n = 545) across all the counties. Co-infection where antibodies against the two infective agents were present was in 14.6% (n = 541) animals. Chi-square tests of association between prevalence and county were significant for BVD (p = .000) but not for neosporosis (p = .626). Further chi-square tests of association between the two infections were not significant (p = .105) neither were the associations of BVD (p = .575) and neosporosis (p = .626) on pregnancy status. These two diseases are rarely investigated as causes of bovine infertility. Detection of antibodies in the studied dairy herds underpins the need for enhanced surveillance by laboratories and for further studies to understand associated risk factors to formulate effective control strategies in dairy cattle to forestall abortions and production and reproduction losses.