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 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.
Highlights
Abortion, the expulsion of a fetus that is incapable of independent life, premature birth, the expulsion before full term of a fetus capable of independent life, and stillbirth, the expulsion of a dead full-term fetus, together are here referred to as abortion [1]
During the lambing season of 2015–2016, 76 submissions of ovine (n = 48) and caprine (n = 28) abortion were presented for post-mortem examination to GD
From 146 (83 ovine and 63 caprines) out of 153 fetuses that were submitted for post-mortem examination, samples from the oropharynx and/or fetal lung were collected
Summary
The expulsion of a fetus that is incapable of independent life, premature birth, the expulsion before full term of a fetus capable of independent life, and stillbirth, the expulsion of a dead full-term fetus, together are here referred to as abortion [1]. For laboratory investigation of ruminant abortion, a step-wise investigative approach was recommended by Borel et al (2014) [6] This approach consists of (1) registration of the case history, (2) sampling of maternal blood for serology, (3) performing a macroscopic examination of the fetus and placental membranes, (4) sampling of fetus and placenta for microbiology, histopathology, and molecular analysis, (5) performing routine bacteriology, (6) and histopathological examination, (7) using immunohistochemistry or in situ hybridization to demonstrate the presence of pathogens, and (8) immediate reporting of notifiable diseases. Under optimal circumstances, this approach should be performed for each submission of ovine and caprine abortion. These limitations have stimulated the development of alternatives that are easier for sheep and goat farmers and their first-line veterinary practitioners
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