ABSTRACT
'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' is a haemotropic mycoplasma that can produce various clinical signs in cattle, but abortive potential of the parasite is unknown, as well as the frequency of transplacental transmission in cattle. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the frequency of detection of 'C. M. haemobos' in aborted fetuses and the blood of dairy cows. Blood samples of 22 dairy cows that aborted and pool tissues (brain, lung, heart and liver) of their respective aborted fetuses were tested by conventional PCR. The occurrence of 'C. M. haemobos' DNA in adult animals was 40.9% (9/22) and in the fetuses was 18.2% (4/22). Two fetuses that contained 'C. M. haemobos' DNA were derived from cows which were PCR negative. When stratifying by breed, it was observed that Jersey cows had a higher proportion of positive animals (8/11; 72.7%) as compared to Holstein (1/9; 11.1% P<0.01). The results of this study suggest that this parasite can be transferred via the placenta, but it is not certain if the abortions were due to 'C. M. haemobos'.
Subject(s)
Cattle Diseases/microbiology , Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/veterinary , Mycoplasma Infections/veterinary , Mycoplasma/classification , Placenta , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/veterinary , Animals , Cattle , Cattle Diseases/transmission , Female , Mycoplasma Infections/microbiology , Mycoplasma Infections/transmission , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Complications, Infectious/microbiologyABSTRACT
The current study aimed to evaluate serology, and isolate and genotype Toxoplasma gondii strains from pregnant dairy cows, slaughtered in an abattoir for human consumption, and their fetuses. Blood from 60 pregnant dairy cows and blood and tissue samples (brain, lung, heart, and liver) from their fetuses were collected and analyzed in a mouse bioassay. Antibodies against T. gondii were observed in 48.3% of cows and 3.7% of fetuses (IFAT, titers ≥ 50 for cows and 25 for fetuses were considered positive). Fourteen fetuses (23.3%) and six cows (10.0%) were identified as positive in the bioassay. T. gondii was isolated from a blood sample of a cow older than 4 years old in the 6th month of pregnancy, and from a blood sample of a fetus in the 6th month of gestation. These isolates were identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as being of T. gondii and both strains showed type II alleles for all PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) markers tested. T. gondii type II strain from cattle was isolated for the first time in Brazil. The current study also showed that transplacental transmission of T. gondii naturally occurs in dairy cows (23.3%) from Southern Brazil.
