Cumulative incidence of ketosis in fresh lactating cows: a case study in the United Arab Emirates

Non-infectious diseases such as ketosis could present a major threat to the development of the dairy subsector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A retrospective study (2019 to 2022) was conducted on 7511 fresh lactating cows to estimate the monthly cumulative incidences of subclinical ketosis (SCK) and clinical ketosis (CK) at one dairy farm in the UAE as a case study. Clinical examination for signs of ketosis and measuring the blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) concentration were used for defining the ketosis status of the study cows. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and binary logistic regression analyses were used for data analysis. The mean monthly cumulative incidence of SCK over four years was 11.16% (95% CI: 10.45, 11.89) while that of CK was 0.53% (95% CI: 0.38, 0.72). The mean monthly cumulative incidences of both SCK was associated (p < 0.0001) with year, season and parity. Besides, the mean monthly cumulative incidence of CK was associated year (p < 0.01) with season. Thus, the mean monthly cumulative incidence of CK was low at the study farm while that of SCK was moderate. Therefore, control and preventive measures of ketosis were recommended to reduce the incidence of SCK at the study farm.