Vaginal Microbiocenosis of Newly-calved Cows in Climatic Conditions of Udmurtia

Introduction . The high prevalence of inflammatory processes in the organism of newly-calved cows, as well as the uncontrolled use of antibacterial preparations and growing number of drug-resistant pathogens, encourage researchers to continue search for the new methods and means of disease prevention and treatment. One of the important directions in this field is studying the competitive interactions within microbiota of animals. Analysis of different scientific sources allows us to conclude that, in the genital tract of cows, bacterial communities are formed under the influence of many factors, therefore our scientific interest is to study the vaginal microbiome of newly-calved cows in the climatic conditions of the Udmurt Republic, taking into account the seasonality and cow physiological state. Materials and Methods . The study was conducted in 2023–2024 at the livestock farming enterprise of the Udmurt Republic. The objects of the study were 12 newly-calved Holsteinized black-and-white breed cows in different physiological state: healthy cows and animals diagnosed with metritis. The study was conducted using a number of methods: vaginal examination of cows, microbiological examination of vaginal flush samples using the conventional method. Results . In clinically healthy newly-calved cows, the total number of microorganisms was within 87–94 CFU/ml, while in cows with metritis, this indicator varied within 90–443 CFU/ml. During the microbiological examination of the vaginal samples, the composition of collibacillus, staphylococcus, and bifidobacteria was found in microbiota of all experimental animals. In summer, a large number of E. coli were detected in sick animals, while in winter mainly bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus were found. As a result of competitive interactions between bifidobacteria and opportunistic microbiota in the vagina, in summer, the number of the Bifidobacteriaceae family representatives was insignificant (10 1 ) or completely absent. Discussion and Conclusion . A correlation between the clinical status and seasonality of vaginal microbiota in newlycalved cows raised in the climatic conditions of Udmurtia was found. Further scientific research is needed to develop the efficient probiotic preparations preventing cervicitis and metritis in cows.