ABORTIONS IN CATTLE AND SHEEP HERDS IN ALGERIA, DESCRIPTIVE STUDY AND RISK FACTORS

The objective of this study is to evaluate the epidemiological situation of abortions on cattle and sheep herds and to identify some risk factors related to them. A descriptive analysis of 139 dairy cattle and 34 sheep farms showed that abortions affect 40.29% and 79.41% of cattle and sheep herds respectively; with an average abortion rate of 11.86% and 4.55% per herd respectively. The identification of risk factors was performed by univariate analysis followed by multiple logistic regression analysis. The results identified three risk factors for cattle (herd size, contact with animals from neighboring farms and presence of stillbirths/malformations) and four risk factors for sheep by univariate analysis only (housing in zriba, presence of stillbirths/malformations, infertility and presence of weak lambs). In conclusion, abortions are an important health problem in livestock farming. Identifying risk factors could help to make optimal decisions to minimize economic losses.