Abstract Haemoglobinuria occurred in 12 river buffaloes in West Azerbaijan, Iran. The affected buffaloes were aged 5 to 10 years. All the affected buffaloes had been recently calved. Intervals from calving to onset of signs ranged from 12 to 52 days (mean±SEM, 27.2±3.3). The occurrence was not associated with season. Physical examination revealed significant increase in heart and respiratory rates and de- crease in rectal temperature and ruminal motility. All 12 affected buffaloes were hypophosphataemic. The compar- ison showed that the serum inorganic phosphorus level in clinically normal buffaloes was four times greater than that of the affected buffaloes. It was hypothesized that hypo- phosphataemia was strongly associated with haemoglobi- nuria in buffaloes that affected multiparous females in a few weeks after calving. Our data indicate that the term “post-parturient haemoglobinuria” may be appropriate for this buffalo syndrome. of milk by-products. Buffaloes are kept in small herds with one to three breeding females plus young stock. Haemoglobinuria is a fatal syndrome of buffaloes in the area. Studies that show aetiology, risk factors and clinical and biochemical findings associated with haemoglobinuria in Iranian buffaloes are not available to date. A similar condition accompanied by hypophosphatae- mia has been observed in late pregnancy in Egyptian buffalo (Awad and Abdel-Latif 1963) and in tthe post- parturient period in Indian buffalo (Kurundkar et al. 1981). Recently, an increasing number of cases have been reported in Pakistan, and the disease appears to be of growing eco- nomic importance (Pirzada and Hussain 1998). The disease affects buffaloes more than cattle (Pirzada et al. 1989). The purpose of the study reported here was to determine the major features of the syndrome in Iranian river buffaloes.

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