Indian Journal of Animal Research
SCOPUSWeb of Science
  • Year: 2026
  • Volume: 60
  • Issue: 2

Prevalence of Uterine Infections and Development of a Multiplex PCR Assay for their Detection in Cattle

  • Author:
  • Priyanka Subhashrao Narwade1, Priya Ranjan Kumar2*, Pesingi Pavan Kumar3, B. Balamurugan1, Dayanidhi Jena2, Sanjay Kumar Ravi1, Rabindra Mohan Mishra4, Mayukh Ghosh5, Anshuman Kumar6
  • Total Page Count: 8
  • Page Number: 292 to 299

1Department of Veterinary Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus-Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur-231 307, Uttar Pradesh, India.

2Unit of Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus-Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur-231 307, Uttar Pradesh, India.

3Department of Veterinary Public Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus-Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur-231 307, Uttar Pradesh, India.

4Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Chatra-825 401, JharkhandIndia.

5Department of Veterinary Physiology and Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus-Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur-231 307, Uttar Pradesh, India.

6Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus-Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur-231 307, Uttar Pradesh, India.

*Corresponding Author: Priya Ranjan Kumar, Unit of Teaching Veterinary Clinical Complex, Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Rajiv Gandhi South Campus-Banaras Hindu University, Mirzapur-231 307, Uttar Pradesh, India. Email: ranjanvgo@bhu.ac.in

Abstract

Uterine infections are a leading cause of infertility and economic loss in dairy cattle, often resulting from complex polymicrobial infections. Rapid and accurate detection of the causative pathogens is essential for effective management. This study focuses on assessing the prevalence of uterine infections and developing a multiplex PCR assay for simultaneous detection of key bacterial pathogens in cattle.

A total of 1,905 cattle from the Vindhyan region were screened for uterine discharge and categorized as clear with tiny flakes, cloudy, mucopurulent, purulent, or haemorrhagic. Sixty uterine samples were aseptically collected for molecular analysis. Conventional PCR was employed to detect Escherichia coli, Fusobacterium necrophorum, Trueperella pyogenes, Clostridium tertium and Histophilus somni. A multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay was subsequently developed for simultaneous detection of E. coli, C. tertium and H. somni and its sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were assessed to evaluate diagnostic performance.

The overall prevalence of uterine infections was 10.44%, consisting of 60.80% subclinical endometritis, 26.63% clinical endometritis and 12.56% metritis. The prevalence rates of E. coli, C. tertium and H. somni were 85%, 92.9% and 73.33%, respectively. Conventional PCR detected E. coli in 54, F. necrophorum in 01, T. pyogenes in 70, C. tertium in 44 and H. somni in 12 of the 60 uterine samples. Using mPCR, 51 samples were positive for E. coli, 44 for C. tertium and 15 for H. somni. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the mPCR were 100%, 66.6% and 95% for E. coli; 100% each for C. tertium; and 80%, 100% and 95% for H. somni, respectively, indicating its high diagnostic efficiency.

Keywords

Multiplex PCR, PCR, Prevalence, Uterine infections, Uterine pathogens