Geni Wren Not many things cause the number of open cows that trichomoniasis does, says Brad White, DVM, Kansas State University. “It should always be on you differential list when you have open cows,” he said at the 2012 Bull Management Conference at Kansas State University.

White made note of different research projects that implicate trich in a variety of situations. He said Trich is seen frequently in bigger herds because there are more bulls. “Bigger herds also often have more exposure because of more fenceline contact with other operations or shared grazing. Those are confounding factors that can increase transmission.”

White discussed Texas diagnostic lab research that looked at over 30,000 tested bulls. The prevalence of trich was higher in the summer and was spread throughout the state with some clustering. “There is a lot of variation where bulls come from,” White says. “There is geographical clustering to a local level but not on a national or regional level. Trich is spread relatively evenly throughout geographic regions.”

White says producers need to know where bulls come from and where they are going. “Each state can be different. They are looking at different goals. We are looking to keep the disease out of Kansas with our import regulations.”

White recommends to not bring mature bulls into a herd. “But if you do, we need to do a breeding soundness exam, a semen test, and a Trich test. We need to encourage producers to do that. We are not doing it frequently enough.”

See a video interview with White on Trich transmission in the cowherd here.