Assessment of the validity of on-farm tests to diagnose uterine infection in dairy cows

Dairy cows commonly experience uterine bacterial infections post-calving, which can lead to reproductive tract inflamma­tion. While diagnosing uterine infection requires bacteriologi­cal culture, on-farm identification of inflammation is quicker. Moreover, antimicrobial treatment has shown positive impacts on reproductive performance of cows identified with inflam­mation of the reproductive tract. In the face of antimicrobial resistance concerns, however, the diagnostic of uterine infec­tion might become essential. In this prospective cross-sectional study, our aim was to assess the diagnostic validity of various tests for identifying uterine infection (UI) in dairy cows, and to evaluate their utility under different scenarios.