Abstract
ABSTRACT Equine piroplasmosis is a tick-borne disease caused by the protozoan parasites Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. We report a case of abortion in association with transplacental Theileria equi infection in a mare from the State of Espírito Santo, southeast Brazil. An apparently healthy mare aborted at the tenth month of gestation. At necropsy, the subcutaneous tissue, skeletal muscles, and visible mucosae of the aborted fetus were pale, and there was moderate hydrothorax and marked splenomegaly. Microscopic findings included splenic lymphoid hyperplasia and nephrosis. Merozoite-infected erythrocytes were found within blood vessels of all organs examined and were most numerous in the brain. DNA extracted from the spleen, liver, kidney, and thymus was used as a template for PCR. Generic primers were employed for the detection of piroplasm 18S ribosomal gene. All samples were positive for piroplasm DNA by PCR. Amplicons were purified and then sequenced. Sequencing analysis of these amplicons revealed 98% identity to T. equi sequences. Based on our findings, we suggest that abortion in this case resulted from transplacental Theileria infection.
Highlights
Theileria equi and Babesia caballi are ticktransmitted hemoparasitic protozoans that belong to the family Piroplasmidae within the phylum Apicomplexa
We report a case of transplacental T. equi fetal infection and abortion in an otherwise asymptomatic mare from the State of Espírito Santo (ES), southeastern Brazil
Equine piroplasmosis is endemic in Brazil including in the State of Espírito Santo (Spolidorio et al, 2010; Wise et al, 2013)
Summary
There are some published reports of transplacental T. equi or B. caballi transmission (Phipps and Otter, 2004; Allsopp et al, 2007; Georges et al, 2011; Roncati et al, 2011; Chhabra et al, 2012; Sudan et al, 2015; Sant et al, 2016; Sousa et al, 2017), a few of them associated with abortion (Sudan et al, 2015; Sousa et al, 2017). We report a case of transplacental T. equi fetal infection and abortion in an otherwise asymptomatic mare from the State of Espírito Santo (ES), southeastern Brazil. In August 2016, a 10-month old equine aborted fetus was submitted to the Veterinary Pathology Laboratory at the Universidade Vila Velha (UVV) located in the city of Vila Velha, ES, Brazil, for necropsy and diagnostic workup.
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