New Evidence That Three In Every Four Commercial Dairy Herds Are At-risk Of Ketosis

A paper presented at the International Conference on Production Diseases in Farm Animals in Sweden has revealed that ketosis could be a common condition on many farms. The paper reported data collected from 4709 transition (fresh) cows from 130 dairy farms in UK, Germany, France, Italy and Netherlands over two study periods in 2011 and 2012 and showed that 39% of dairy cows had ketosis and in excess of 75% of the commercial dairy herds tested were likely to be at high risk of developing periparturient diseases as a result.¹ For the UK the average prevalence of ketosis was 30% in the 2011 study and 32% in the 2012 study. The paper’s authors, Geert Vertenten, DVM, PhD, Elanco Animal Health and Anna Berge DVM, MSc, MPVM, PhD, of Ghent University veterinary epidemiology unit, presented data that showed that between July 2011 and January 2012, 76% of herds had a ketosis prevalence of more than 25%.² The 2012 audit, carried out between January and September 2012, reported that ketosis prevalence in excess of 25% had affected 86% of herds.³ Taken together, the two audits cover the whole year, ensuring that the data provides an accurate picture, regardless of any seasonality due to calving periods in the different countries. Geert Vertenten commented, “Ketosis levels were monitored in cows 7-21 days after calving using the Keto-Test milk test. Keto-Test readings above 100µmol/litre were deemed positive for ketosis. The audit data supports the observation that subclinical ketosis is indeed a hidden disease. We already know there is a strong association between ketosis and periparturient diseases associated with production, therefore it is important that vets can identify where there are opportunities to make positive interventions that will improve the health and welfare of the herd.” There are some key indicators that veterinarians can be looking for when assessing if ketosis is causing a problem within a herd. These indicators include a 5% or above annual incidence of displaced abomasums; more than 10% of cows at body condition score four or above three weeks before calving; or more than 40% cows have fat:protein more than 1.5:1 at the first milk recording after calving.⁴ Testing will confirm the levels of ketosis and quantify the level of risk: test results that show more than 25% of the herd testing positive with a cow side milk test such as Keto-Test, or the equivalent blood level of more than 10% testing positive using a serum or blood BHBA test,⁵ confirms a high risk herd. The scale of the problem is confirmed by Geert Vertenten, “According to our data, as many as three in every four commercial dairy herds across Europe may be classed as at high risk of developing ketosis.” ReferencesVertenten G.1 and Berge A.C.B, Investigation into the prevalence of ketosis in periparturient dairy cows in EU dairy herds in 2011-2012’ , ICPD 2013Elanco Ketosis Farm Audit 2011 Study No. GN4FR110006Elanco Ketosis Farm Audit 2012, Study No. DIAFR120001Duffield, T. 2007. Peripartum Metabolic Monitoring. The AABP Proceedings Vol. 40, Sept. 2007Oetzel, G.R. 2004. Monitoring and testing dairy herds for metabolic disease. Vet. Clin. Food. Anim. 20:651-674

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