Objective.

Determine the prevalence of bovine ketosis based on serum concentrations (mmol/Lt) of beta-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) and estimate its association with early postpartum diseases in dairy cows.

Materials and methods.

An epidemiological cross-sectional study was carried out with individual information on blood levels of βHB and clinical presentation of puerperal diseases in 1149 animals; In addition, the efficiency of the test was evaluated as a predictor of postpartum disease. Subsequently, univariate analysis and a final logistic regression model were performed to explore the factors associated with hyperketonemia. The association between blood βHB, the presentation of ketosis and the occurrence of puerperal diseases was calculated by analyzing the Receiver Operating Characteristic -ROC.

Results.

According to βHB levels, the prevalence of ketosis was 7.9%, clinical ketosis 0.6% and subclinical ketosis 7.3%. The test was a predictor of puerperal disease (LR+ of 13.6). Body condition score ≥3.5, number of births 2 and ≥3, presentation of retained fetal membranes, milk fever and postpartum disease, are risk factors for ketosis. The analysis of the ROC curve showed that the measurement of βHB (≥1.2 mmol/Lt) in blood serves to diagnose ketosis (p<0.0001).

Conclusions.

The measurement of βHB blood levels allowed to determine that ketosis presentation is low, it is an alert not only for this disease but for early postpartum diseases. The results of this study confirm risk factors observed in previous studies.

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