Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:26:41.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evidence that primary infection of Charollais sheep with Toxoplasma gondii may not prevent foetal infection and abortion in subsequent lambings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2007

E. K. MORLEY ,
R. H. WILLIAMS ,
J. M. HUGHES ,
D. THOMASSON ,
R. S. TERRY ,
P. DUNCANSON ,
J. E. SMITH  and
G. HIDE
E. K. MORLEY
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
R. H. WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
J. M. HUGHES
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
D. THOMASSON
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
R. S. TERRY
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
P. DUNCANSON
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
J. E. SMITH
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
G. HIDE*
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Centre for Parasitology and Disease, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK. Tel: +0161 295 3371. Fax: +0161 295 5015. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A study carried out on a sheep farm examined whether Toxoplasma gondii foetal infection and associated abortion occur in successive lambings. We identified 29 ewes that gave birth to lambs on at least 2 successive years over our study period, 2000–2003. Tissue samples from the progeny of these ewes were analysed by PCR to determine infection status with T. gondii. T. gondii-infected lambs were born in 31% of successive pregnancies. T. gondii-positive lambs were aborted in successive pregnancies in 21% of lambings during study period, 2000–2003. The frequency of successive abortions within this flock over the period 1992–2003 was 18%. If a lamb was congenitally infected there was a high risk (69%) that the successive lamb from that ewe would also be congenitally infected. Similarly, if a lamb was aborted there was a high risk (55%) of abortion in the next lamb produced. These data suggest that life-long immunity to T. gondii infections may not always be acquired following an initial infection and raises the question as to whether the mechanisms of T. gondii transmission prior to and during ovine pregnancies are fully understood.

Keywords

Toxoplasma gondiiovine pregnancysuccessive abortioncongenital infectionPCR
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 135 , Issue 2 , February 2008 , pp. 169 - 173
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Avelino, M. M. and Campos, D. Jr. (2002). Pregnancy as a risk factor for acute toxoplasmosis seroconversion. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology 4417, 1–6.Google Scholar
Beverley, J. K. A., Watson, W. A. and Payne, J. M. (1971). The pathology of the placenta in ovine abortion due to toxoplasmosis. Veterinary Record 88, 124–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boothroyd, J. C. and Grigg, M. E. (2002). Population biology of Toxoplasma gondii and its relevance to human infection: do different strains cause different disease? Current Opinion in Microbiology 5, 438–442.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyer, K. M., Remington, J. S. and MacLeod, R. L. (1998). Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, USA.Google Scholar
Buxton, D., Rodger, S. M., Maley, S. W. and Wright, S. E. (2006). Toxoplasmosis: The possibility of vertical transmission. Small Ruminant Research 62, 43–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buxton, D., Maley, S. W., Wright, S. E., Rodger, S., Bartley, P. and Innes, E. A. (2007). Toxoplasma gondii and ovine toxoplasmosis: New aspects of an old story. Veterinary Parasitology 149, 25–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buxton, D. and Innes, E. A. (1995). A commercial vaccine for ovine toxoplasmosis. Parasitology 110, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Desmonts, G., Naot, Y. and Remington, J. S. (1981). Immunolglobulin M-immunosorbent agglutination assay for diagnosis of infectious diseases: diagnosis of acute congenital and acquired Toxoplasma infections. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 14, 486–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubey, J. P. and Beattie, C. P. (1988). Toxoplasmosis of Animals and Man. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.Google Scholar
Duncanson, P., Terry, R. S., Smith, J. E. and Hide, G. (2001). High levels of congenital transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in a commercial sheep flock. International Journal for Parasitology 31, 1699–1703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frenkel, J. K. (1990). Toxoplasmosis in human beings. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 196, 240–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughes, J. M., Williams, R. H., Morley, E. K., Cook, D. A.N., Terry, R. S., Murphy, R. G., Smith, J. E. and Hide, G. (2006). The prevalence of Neospora caninum and co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii by PCR analysis in naturally occurring mammal populations. Parasitology 132, 29–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marshall, P. A., Hughes, J. M., Williams, R. H., Smith, J. E., Murphy, R. G. and Hide, G. (2004). Detection of high levels of congenital transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in natural urban populations of Mus domesticus. Parasitology 128, 39–42.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McColgan, C., Buxton, D. and Blewett, D. A. (1988). Titration of Toxoplasma gondii oocysts in non-pregnant sheep and the effects of subsequent challenge during pregnancy. Veterinary Record 123, 467–470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morley, E. K., Williams, R. H., Hughes, J. M., Terry, R. S., Duncanson, P., Smith, R. S. and Hide, G. (2005). Significant familial differences in the frequency of abortion and Toxoplasma gondii infection within a flock of Charollais sheep. Parasitology 131, 181–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quinn, H. E., Ellis, J. T. and Smith, N. C. (2002). Neospora caninum: a cause of immune-mediated failure of pregnancy? Trends in Parasitology 18, 391–394.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Remington, J. S. and Desmonts, G. (1990). Toxoplasmosis. In Infectious Disease of the Fetus and Newborn Infant (ed. Remington, J. S. and Klein, J. O.),pp. 143–146. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia, USA.Google Scholar
Tenter, A. M., Heckeroth, A. R. and Weiss, L. M. (2000). Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans. International Journal for Parasitology 30, 1217–1258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Terry, R. S., Smith, J. E., Duncanson, P. and Hide, G. (2001). MGE-PCR: a novel approach to the analysis of Toxoplasma gondii strain differentiation using mobile genetic elements. International Journal for Parasitology 31, 155–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trees, A. J. and Williams, D. J. L. (2005). Endogenous and exogenous transplacental infection in Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii. Trends in Parasitology 21 558–561.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) (2006). Monthly Surveillance Report, February 2006.Google Scholar
VIDA (2003). Veterinary Surveillance Report 2003 – VIDA. Veterinary Laboratories Agency. ISBN 1 8995 1322 1Google Scholar
Williams, R. H., Morley, E. K., Hughes, J. M., Duncanson, P., Terry, R. S., Smith, J. E. and Hide, G. (2005). High levels of congenital transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies on sheep farms provides evidence of vertical transmission in ovine hosts. Parasitology 130, 301–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zuber, P. and Jaquier, P. (1995). Epidemiology of toxoplasmosis: worldwide status. Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift 65, 19S–22S.Google ScholarPubMed