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Pathogens
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Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants
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Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 17511

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gema Álvarez García

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Animal Health Department, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
Interests: Apicomplexan protozoa; reproduction failure in ruminants; control; diagnostics; foodborne zoonosis
Dr. Esther Collantes Fernández

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Animal Health Department, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid 28040, Spain
Interests: Apicomplexan protozoa; reproduction failure in ruminants; vaccines; host-pathogen interactions
Dr. Laura del Rio Alonso

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Animal Health, University of Murcia, Murcia, 30100, Spain
Interests: Chlamydia abortus; Toxoplasma gondii; parasitic and infectious diseases; diagnosis; vaccines; immune response

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Infectious abortion in small ruminants is a major cause of economic losses. Vaccination, management, and hygiene control measures are key points in the health control program, but they are sometimes insufficient, as vaccination programs may have deficiencies or flocks may also be exposed to emerging pathogens. Given your knowledge and expertise on pathogens that affect reproduction in small ruminants, we invite you to submit a manuscript to Pathogens (MDPI) for the Special Issue entitled “Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants”, which you can find at (link to web page). We strongly encourage you to contribute to this Special Issue with manuscripts focused on novel data on epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and control. Research papers on novel vaccine formulations and control strategies, as well as reviews, are also very welcome. The aim of this Special Issue is to transfer applied knowledge to the field. Thus, we will encourage the dissemination of results among veterinary practitioners and experts in small ruminant health.

The submission deadline is 30 September 2021.

Dr. Gema Álvarez García
Dr. Esther Collantes Fernández
Dr. Laura del Rio Alonso
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • small ruminants
  • abortifacient agents
  • epidemiology
  • pathogenesis
  • diagnosis
  • control

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 16187 KiB  
Article
Effect of Female Sex Hormones on the Immune Response against Chlamydia abortus and on Protection Conferred by an Inactivated Experimental Vaccine in a Mouse Model
by Laura Del Rio, Antonio Murcia-Belmonte, Antonio Julián Buendía, Jose Antonio Navarro, Nieves Ortega, Daniel Alvarez, Jesús Salinas and María Rosa Caro
Pathogens 2022, 11(1), 93; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens11010093 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1823
Abstract
Mice are valuable models extensively used to test vaccine candidates against Chlamydia abortus and to clarify immunopathological mechanisms of the bacteria. As this pathogen has the ability to reactivate during pregnancy, it is important to deepen the knowledge and understanding of some of [...] Read more.
Mice are valuable models extensively used to test vaccine candidates against Chlamydia abortus and to clarify immunopathological mechanisms of the bacteria. As this pathogen has the ability to reactivate during pregnancy, it is important to deepen the knowledge and understanding of some of the effects of female hormones on immunity and vaccination. This study is aimed at describing the role of sex hormones in the pathology of OEA during chlamydial clearance using ovariectomised mice and also gaining an understanding of how 17β-oestradiol or progesterone may impact the effectiveness of vaccination. Animals were treated with sex hormones and infected with C. abortus, and the kinetics of infection and immune response were analysed by means of bacterial isolation, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry. In a second phase of the study, protection conferred by an experimental vaccine after hormone treatment was assessed. Oestradiol showed a stimulatory effect on the immune response during infection, with a more efficient recruitment of macrophages and T-cells at the infection site. Furthermore, after vaccination, oestradiol-treated animals showed a stronger protection against infection, indicating that this hormone has a positive effect, stimulating a specific memory response to the pathogen. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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14 pages, 1754 KiB  
Article
Dairy Sheep Played a Minor Role in the 2005–2010 Human Q Fever Outbreak in The Netherlands Compared to Dairy Goats
by Piet Vellema, Inge Santman-Berends, Frederika Dijkstra, Erik van Engelen, Marian Aalberts, Carlijn ter Bogt-Kappert and René van den Brom
Pathogens 2021, 10(12), 1579; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10121579 - 03 Dec 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2317
Abstract
Q fever is an almost ubiquitous zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii. This organism infects several animal species, as well as humans, and domestic ruminants like cattle, sheep and goats are an important animal reservoir of C. burnetii. In 2007, a sudden [...] Read more.
Q fever is an almost ubiquitous zoonosis caused by Coxiella burnetii. This organism infects several animal species, as well as humans, and domestic ruminants like cattle, sheep and goats are an important animal reservoir of C. burnetii. In 2007, a sudden rise in notified human Q fever cases occurred in The Netherlands, and by the end of 2009, more than 3500 human Q fever patients had been notified. Dairy sheep and dairy goats were suspected to play a causal role in this human Q fever outbreak, and several measures were taken, aiming at a reduction of C. burnetii shedding by infected small ruminants, in order to reduce environmental contamination and thus human exposure. One of the first measures was compulsory notification of more than five percent abortion within thirty days for dairy sheep and dairy goat farms, starting 12 June 2008. After notification, an official farm inspection took place, and laboratory investigations were performed aiming at ruling out or demonstrating a causal role of C. burnetii. These measures were effective, and the number of human Q fever cases decreased; levels are currently the same as they were prior to 2007. The effect of these measures was monitored using a bulk tank milk (BTM) PCR and an antibody ELISA. The percentage PCR positive dairy herds and flocks decreased over time, and dairy sheep flocks tested PCR positive significantly less often and became PCR negative earlier compared to dairy goat herds. Although there was no difference in the percentage of dairy goat and dairy sheep farms with a C. burnetii abortion outbreak, the total number of shedding dairy sheep was much lower than the number of shedding dairy goats. Combined with the fact that Q fever patients lived mainly in the proximity of infected dairy goat farms and that no Q fever patients could be linked directly to dairy sheep farms, although this may have happened in individual cases, we conclude that dairy sheep did not play a major role in the Dutch Q fever outbreak. BTM monitoring using both a PCR and an ELISA is essential to determine a potential C. burnetii risk, not only for The Netherlands but for other countries with small ruminant dairy industries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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18 pages, 2163 KiB  
Article
Dynamics of Neospora caninum-Associated Abortions in a Dairy Sheep Flock and Results of a Test-and-Cull Control Programme
by Roberto Sánchez-Sánchez, Ángela Vázquez-Calvo, Mercedes Fernández-Escobar, Javier Regidor-Cerrillo, Julio Benavides, Jorge Gutiérrez, Daniel Gutiérrez-Expósito, Francisco José Crespo-Ramos, Luis Miguel Ortega-Mora and Gema Álvarez-García
Pathogens 2021, 10(11), 1518; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10111518 - 20 Nov 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2560
Abstract
Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan parasite that can cause abortions and perinatal mortality in sheep. Although ovine neosporosis has been described worldwide, there is a lack of information about the relationship between N. caninum serostatus and the reproductive performance. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan parasite that can cause abortions and perinatal mortality in sheep. Although ovine neosporosis has been described worldwide, there is a lack of information about the relationship between N. caninum serostatus and the reproductive performance. In this study, we described the infection dynamics in a dairy sheep flock with an abortion rate up to 25% and a N. caninum seroprevalence of 32%. Abortions were recorded in 36% and 9% of seropositive and seronegative sheep, respectively. Seropositive sheep were more likely to abort twice (OR = 4.44) or three or more times (OR = 10.13) than seronegative sheep. Endogenous transplacental transmission was the main route of transmission since 86% of seropositive sheep had seropositive offspring. Within dams that had any abortion, seropositive sheep were more likely than seronegative ones to have female descendants that aborted (OR = 8.12). The slight increase in seropositivity with the age, the low percentage of animals with postnatal seroconversion or with low avidity antibodies, and the seropositivity of one flock dog, indicated that horizontal transmission might have some relevance in this flock. A control programme based on selective culling of seropositive sheep and replacement with seronegative animals was effective in reducing the abortion rate to 7.2%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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11 pages, 430 KiB  
Article
An Accessible Diagnostic Toolbox to Detect Bacterial Causes of Ovine and Caprine Abortion
by René van den Brom, Inge Santman-Berends, Remco Dijkman, Piet Vellema, Reinie Dijkman and Erik van Engelen
Pathogens 2021, 10(9), 1147; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10091147 - 06 Sep 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2232
Abstract
Results of laboratory investigations of ovine and caprine cases of abortion in the lambing season 2015–2016 were analyzed, using pathology records of submissions to Royal GD (Deventer, the Netherlands) from January until and including April 2016, in comparison with the results of two [...] Read more.
Results of laboratory investigations of ovine and caprine cases of abortion in the lambing season 2015–2016 were analyzed, using pathology records of submissions to Royal GD (Deventer, the Netherlands) from January until and including April 2016, in comparison with the results of two accessible alternative techniques for sampling aborted lambs and kids, swabbing the fetal oropharynx and puncture of the fetal lung. Chlamydia abortus was the main cause of abortion in sheep as well as in goats. Other causes of abortion were Campylobacter spp., Listeria spp., Escherichia coli, and Yersinia enterocolitica. Ovine pathological submissions resulted more often in detecting an infectious agent compared to caprine submissions. For the three main bacterial causes of abortion, Campylobacter spp., Listeria spp., and Chlamydia spp., compared to results of the pathological examination, oropharynx mucus, and fetal lung puncture samples showed an observed agreement of 0.87 and 0.89, an expected agreement of 0.579 and 0.584, and a kappa value of 0.691 and 0.737 (95% CI: 0.561–0.82 and 0.614–0.859), respectively. The agreement between the results of the pathological examination and both fetal lung puncture and oropharynx mucus samples was classified as good. In conclusion, although a full step-wise post-mortem examination remains the most proper way of investigating small ruminant abortions, the easily accessible, low-threshold tools for practitioners and farmers as described in this paper not only provide reliable results compared to results of the post-mortem examination but also stimulates farmers and veterinarians to submit fetuses and placentas if necessary. Suggestions for further improvement of both alternatives have been summarized. Both alternatives could also be tailor-made for specific regions with their specific causes of abortion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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15 pages, 3745 KiB  
Article
Distribution and Severity of Placental Lesions Caused by the Chlamydia abortus 1B Vaccine Strain in Vaccinated Ewes
by Sergio Gastón Caspe, Javier Palarea-Albaladejo, Clare Underwood, Morag Livingstone, Sean Ranjan Wattegedera, Elspeth Milne, Neil Donald Sargison, Francesca Chianini and David Longbottom
Pathogens 2021, 10(5), 543; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10050543 - 30 Apr 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2026
Abstract
Chlamydia abortus infects livestock species worldwide and is the cause of enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE). In Europe, control of the disease is achieved using a live vaccine based on C. abortus 1B strain. Although the vaccine has been useful for controlling disease [...] Read more.
Chlamydia abortus infects livestock species worldwide and is the cause of enzootic abortion of ewes (EAE). In Europe, control of the disease is achieved using a live vaccine based on C. abortus 1B strain. Although the vaccine has been useful for controlling disease outbreaks, abortion events due to the vaccine have been reported. Recently, placental pathology resulting from a vaccine type strain (vt) infection has been reported and shown to be similar to that resulting from a natural wild-type (wt) infection. The aim of this study was to extend these observations by comparing the distribution and severity of the lesions, the composition of the predominating cell infiltrate, the amount of bacteria present and the role of the blood supply in infection. A novel system for grading the histological and pathological features present was developed and the resulting multi-parameter data were statistically transformed for exploration and visualisation through a tailored principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate the difference between them. The analysis provided no evidence of meaningful differences between vt and wt strains in terms of the measured pathological parameters. The study also contributes a novel methodology for analysing the progression of infection in the placenta for other abortifacient pathogens. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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Review

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15 pages, 1473 KiB  
Review
Vaccination as a Strategy to Prevent Bluetongue Virus Vertical Transmission
by José M. Rojas, Verónica Martín and Noemí Sevilla
Pathogens 2021, 10(11), 1528; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10111528 - 22 Nov 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2958
Abstract
Bluetongue virus (BTV) produces an economically important disease in ruminants of compulsory notification to the OIE. BTV is typically transmitted by the bite of Culicoides spp., however, some BTV strains can be transmitted vertically, and this is associated with fetus malformations and abortions. [...] Read more.
Bluetongue virus (BTV) produces an economically important disease in ruminants of compulsory notification to the OIE. BTV is typically transmitted by the bite of Culicoides spp., however, some BTV strains can be transmitted vertically, and this is associated with fetus malformations and abortions. The viral factors associated with the virus potency to cross the placental barrier are not well defined. The potency of vertical transmission is retained and sometimes even increased in live attenuated BTV vaccine strains. Because BTV possesses a segmented genome, the possibility of reassortment of vaccination strains with wild-type virus could even favor the transmission of this phenotype. In the present review, we will describe the non-vector-based BTV infection routes and discuss the experimental vaccination strategies that offer advantages over this drawback of some live attenuated BTV vaccines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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Other

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12 pages, 2072 KiB  
Case Report
Diagnostic Findings in a Confirmed Outbreak of Brucella ovis Infection in a Traditional Sheep Farm in Sicily (South-Italy)
by Paola Galluzzo, Sergio Migliore, Silvana Cascio, Santino Barreca, Marilena Alfano, Antonina Tagliarini, Anna Candela, Chiara Piraino, Lucia Galuppo, Lucia Condorelli, Hany A. Hussein, Manuela Tittarelli and Giuseppina Chiarenza
Pathogens 2021, 10(11), 1472; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10111472 - 12 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2692
Abstract
Aim of this study is to report a laboratory investigation performed following the isolation of Brucella ovis, causing ovine epididymitis, in a traditional sheep farm in Sicily (South Italy). This disease represents a newly emerging risk for Italian livestock and is listed [...] Read more.
Aim of this study is to report a laboratory investigation performed following the isolation of Brucella ovis, causing ovine epididymitis, in a traditional sheep farm in Sicily (South Italy). This disease represents a newly emerging risk for Italian livestock and is listed among diseases of EU priority (EU Reg 2016/429). Blood samples from 56 rams and 143 ewes were analyzed by both Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Complement Fixation Test (CFT). Genital swabs from all rams and 15 lactating ewes were collected to perform real-time PCR. Eighteen serologically positive rams were slaughtered and postmortem-inspected. Samples of testicle, epididymis, lymph nodes, and urine were also collected in order to perform microbiological, molecular, and histopathological analysis. Twelve slaughtered rams showed anatomo-pathological lesions. Real-time PCR for B. ovis BOV_A0504 gene was positive for 13 testicles and epididymis and 11 urine while B. ovis was isolated from epididymis and testicles of 7 slaughtered rams. This is the first exhaustive laboratory report of a microbiological, molecular, and serological pattern of the disease in sheep in Italy. Despite the impact on health and animal welfare, the epidemiology of B. ovis infection is still unknown, particularly in our country where the disease is considered endemic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transmissible Diseases Affecting Reproduction in Small Ruminants)
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