R.B. Liaw(1), J. C. Chen(1), S. S. Tsay(1), Y. C. Chou(2), T. F. Shiao(1) and M. C. Wu(1)
(1)Livestock Research Institute, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan (2)Tainan City Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office
Bovine brachyspina syndrome (BS) is a recessive genetic defect first observed in Denmark in 2006. The syndrome is caused by a 3.3-kb DNA deletion in the bovine Fanconi anemia complementation group I (FANCI) gene on bovine chromosome 21. In this study, a total of 144 dairy cow samples including 32 samples from A farm and 112 samples from B farm were examined. The result indicated that 2 carriers were from A farm and 6 carriers were from B farm. The frequency of BS carriers in this study was 5.6% which was lower than that reported in the Netherlands (7.4%) and the United States (6%) but was higher than that in Mainland China (3.8%). The dairy industry has huge losses due to brachyspina syndrome. The genetic defect should be eliminated gradually by large scale genotyping and selective mating.