Abstract
Here, we assessed outcome of experimental infection by Neospora caninum in goats intravenously inoculated with 106 tachyzoites of the Nc-Spain7 isolate at 40 (G1), 90 (G2) and 120 (G3) days of gestation. Infected goats had fever between 5 and 9 days post inoculation (dpi); all were seropositive at the time of abortion/birth. Foetal death occurred in G1 from 10 to 21 dpi (n = 7) and in G2 from 27 to 35 dpi (n = 4). Goats in G2 also had seropositive stillbirth (n = 1) and healthy kids (n = 2). G3 goats (n = 7) had 3 seropositive and 3 seronegative weak kids, and 2 seronegative healthy kids. Parasite DNA detection in placentomes was 100% in G2, 85.7% in G3 and in G1 was detected only in placentomes from the goats with foetal losses from 17 dpi (100%). Parasites were detected in foetal/kid brain (>85.7%) and liver (≥50%) of G2 and G3, and in G1 after 17 dpi (100%). The highest parasite loads were detected in the placentomes of G1 from 17 dpi and G2, and in foetal tissues of G1 from 17 dpi and G3. Multifocal necrotic lesions were observed in the placentas of the three groups, but they were larger and more frequent in G1 and G2. Similar lesions were observed in foetal tissues, but they were more frequent in G3. These findings suggest that, as observed in cattle and sheep, the clinical consequences of N. caninum in pregnant goats are dependent in part on the time of gestation when animals were infected.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13567-016-0312-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Neosporosis is globally recognized as one of the main causes of abortion in cattle [1]
The aim of the present study was to investigate the outcome of experimental infection by N. caninum in goats in the early (40 day of gestation, dg), middle (90 dg) and late (120 dg) stages of pregnancy to better understand the pathogenesis of caprine neosporosis
Similar results have been previously shown in bovine neosporosis [20]
Summary
Neosporosis is globally recognized as one of the main causes of abortion in cattle [1]. The few studies conducted in caprine neosporosis have used pigmy goats [14] This breed has proven to be very susceptible to experimental neosporosis because pregnant pigmy goats inoculated in early- and mid-gestation with N. caninum aborted infected foetuses or delivered stillborn kids [14]. The results of these studies suggest similar pathogenesis and disease outcomes as reported for cattle, in which the time point of infection during gestation plays a key role [14]. A recent study of experimental infection in sheep demonstrated the crucial role of the stage of gestation in the course of ovine neosporosis, where infections in early- and mid-gestation caused a 100% abortion rate, whereas infections in late-gestation resulted in the birth of weak or clinically healthy infected lambs [15]
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