BACKGROUND Latency is a key feature of the animal pathogen Chlamydia abortus, where infection remains inapparent in the non-pregnant animal and only becomes evident during a subsequent pregnancy. Often the first sign that an animal is infected is abortion occurring late in gestation. Despite this, little is understood of the underlying mechanisms that control latency or the recrudescence of inf...

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is a significant cause of abortion in sheep and goats in the world. Toxoplasmosis is caused reproduction disorders such as fetal resorption, early embryonic death, mummification, abortion, stillbirth, neonatal and fetal death in sheep . Objectives: The aim of this study was to detect T. gondii infection in ovine aborted fetuses in Khorasan Razavi province. Methods:...

French Catholic participants (N = 340) with high or low religious identification read 1 of 8 scenarios presented as an interview with a female target 2 months after she had had an abortion. The experimental device varied situational pressure (pressure vs. no pressure), the target's religious social identity (Catholic vs. neutral), and the consequences of abortion for the target (positive vs. ne...

Animal losses due to abortion and weak offspring during a lambing period amounted up to 25% in a goat flock and up to 18% in a sheep flock kept at an experimental station on the Swabian Alb, Germany. Fifteen out of 23 employees and residents on the farm tested positive for Coxiella burnetii antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescence assay. Ninety-fou...

We previously developed a potent candidate vaccine against bovine brucellosis caused by Brucella abortus using the influenza viral vector expressing Brucella Omp16 and L7/L12 proteins (Flu-BA). Our success in the Flu-BA vaccine trial in cattle and results of a pilot study in non-pregnant small ruminants prompted us in the current study to test its efficacy against B. melitensis infection in pre...

Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular parasite and is recognised as the leading cause of bovine abortion worldwide. Natural infection with N. caninum has been described in sheep but it has generally not been regarded as a significant cause of abortion. Recently, there have been several New Zealand cases of foetal abortions where N. caninum was detected which strongly suggested the invol...

Chlamydophila abortus is one of the most important causative agents of enzootic abortion and other chlamydial infections of sheep and goats. The presence of specific serum antibodies to Chlamydophila abortus was studied in sheep and goats breeding in the Slovak Republic by the complement fixation test. 22,040 sheep and goats were examined during 5 years. Specific anti-Ch. abortus antibodies wer...