Keeping Your Herd Trich Free

Bovine Trichomoniasis or Trich is a costly STD that can quickly spread during breeding season and can reduce a calf crop by more than 50 percent. Boehringer Ingelheim Senior Professional Services Veterinarian Dr. John Davidson says that the Mountain West and open rangelands have increased risk for Trich and it can be one of the economically important disease for cow-calf producers in these more highly infected regions.

Davidson: "Trich is spread very efficiently through the breeding stock in a cattle operation. A study years ago demonstrated that a 3-year-old bull could spread Trich in 95 percent of the heifers that he was exposed to on a service breeding event. That is something that we need to be mindful of when it comes to biosecurity or purchased additions to a cattle operation. The potential for spread is very significant."

While Trich-infected cows can be bred, as the venereal pathogen grows within the reproductive tract and inflammation takes place causing the cow to abort her calf usually in the first trimester. Dr. Davidson continues

Davison: "There is a vaccine that is manufactured by Boehringer Ingelheim which is known as TrichGuard. It aids in the reduction of the shedding of organism — in other words — vaccination cows and heifers are more likely to deliver a calf when infected with the venereal Trich organism then those animals that are not vaccinated."