The present work aimed to observe the infection pattern of Bovine herpes virus-1 (BoHV-1) in dairy cattle with reproductive problems in Sudan. A total of 140 samples comprising of vaginal swab (n=97), placenta (n=15), whole blood (n=19), uterine fluid (n=1), and serum (n=8) were collected from 16 dairy herds showing particularly high rate of abortion and infertility in Khartoum State. The samples were used for virus isolation, and were tested by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). No virus could be isolated from the samples inoculated for isolation in cell culture. Out of 80 specimens tested by ELISA, 7 (8.75%) were found to be positive, and one sample was doubtful. Using PCR, 11 (10.7%) out of 103 samples were found to be positive. When comparing between two methods for DNA extraction, the DNA extracted by commercial kit was found to be better in quality as compared to the DNA extracted using phenol/chloroform/isoamyl-alcohol method. The study confirmed the presence of BoHV-1 in cattle farms with reproductive problems in Sudan.

A cross sectional survey was carried out in dairy farms in four States of Sudan to determine prevalence of reproductive health disorders that affect dairy cattle industries in the country. A total of 575 adult female cows in dairy farms located in Khartoum, Gezira, Sennar, and White Nile States were investigated using questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews with the owners. The results indicated that 24.4% of the animals were affected with one or more reproductive health disorders. Abortion (57.1%) represented the major health problem affecting calf yield, followed by infertility (34.3%) and neonatal death (8.6%). Other health problems included stillbirth, vaginitis and retained placenta, anomalies, metritis and repeat breeder. Most of the abortion cases were detected during third trimester (76.25%) followed by first (12.5%) and second (11.25%) trimesters. Finally, countrywide investigations of reproductive disorders and increasing awareness to the owners are recommended for designing successful control strategies of reproductive disorders in Sudan.