Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:36:48.706Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Significant familial differences in the frequency of abortion and Toxoplasma gondii infection within a flock of Charollais sheep

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 April 2005

E. K. MORLEY ,
R. H. WILLIAMS ,
J. M. HUGHES ,
R. S. TERRY ,
P. DUNCANSON ,
J. E. SMITH  and
G. HIDE
E. K. MORLEY
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology, Molecular Epidemiology and Ecology Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
R. H. WILLIAMS
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology, Molecular Epidemiology and Ecology Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
J. M. HUGHES
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology, Molecular Epidemiology and Ecology Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
R. S. TERRY
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
P. DUNCANSON
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology, Molecular Epidemiology and Ecology Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
J. E. SMITH
Affiliation:
School of Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
G. HIDE
Affiliation:
Centre for Parasitology, Molecular Epidemiology and Ecology Biosciences Research Institute, School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Salford, Salford M5 4WT, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A study was carried out to investigate the frequencies of abortion and congenital Toxoplasma gondii infection within 27 families (765 individuals) of a pedigree Charollais sheep flock maintained on a working farm in Worcestershire, UK, since 1992. Pedigree lambing records were analysed to establish the frequency of abortion for each family. The frequency of congenital infection was determined for each family by PCR analysis of tissue samples taken from newborn lambs. A total of 155 lambs were tested for congenital T. gondii infection, which were all born during the study period 2000–2003. Significant differences in the frequency of abortion between sheep families within this flock were observed with frequencies ranging between 0% and 48% (P<0·01). Significantly different infection frequencies with T. gondii were also observed for different families and ranged between 0% and 100% (P<0·01). Although the actual cause of each abortion was not verified, a highly significant positive correlation was found to exist between the frequency of abortion and the frequency of T. gondii infection in the same families (P<0·01). The data presented here raise further questions regarding the significance of congenital transmission of T. gondii within sheep populations, the possible successive vertical transmission of T. gondii within families of sheep, and the potential role of inherited genetic susceptibility to abortion with respect to T. gondii infection. This work invites further study into the epidemiology of ovine toxoplasmosis and may have implications for sheep husbandry methods in the future.

Keywords

Toxoplasma gondiiovinetoxoplasmosiscongenitaltransmissionpedigreesheep
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 131 , Issue 2 , August 2005 , pp. 181 - 185
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

ASPINALL, T. V., MARLEE, D., HYDE, J. E. & SIMS, P. F. G. ( 2002). Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in commercial meat products as monitored by polymerase chain reaction – food for thought? International Journal for Parasitology 32, 1193–1199.Google Scholar
BEVERLEY, J. K. A. ( 1959). Congenital transmission of toxoplasmosis through successive generation of mice. Nature, London 183, 1348–1349.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BEVERLEY, J. K. A. & WATSON, W. A. ( 1971). Prevention of experimental and of naturally occurring ovine abortion due to toxoplasmosis. Veterinary Record 88, 39–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BLEWETT, D. A. & WATSON, W. A. ( 1984). The epidemiology of ovine toxoplasmosis III. Observations on outbreaks of clinical toxoplasmosis in relation to possible mechanisms of transmission. British Veterinary Journal 140, 54–63.Google Scholar
BUXTON, D. ( 1990). Ovine toxoplasmosis:a review. Journal of the Royal Society for Medicine 83, 509–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DAVISON, H. C., OTTER, A. & TREES, A. J. ( 1999). Estimation of veritcal and horizontal transmission parameters in Neospora caninum infections in dairy cattle. International Journal for Parasitology 29, 1683–1689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DUBEY, J. P. & BEATTIE, C. P. ( 1988). Toxoplasmosis of Animals and Man. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
DUBEY, J. P., SHEN, S. K., KWOK, O. C. H. & THULLIEZ, P. ( 1997). Toxoplasmosis in rats (Rattus norvegicus): congenital transmission of first and second generation offspring and isolation of Toxoplasma gondii from seronegative rats. Parasitology 115, 9–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DUNCANSON, P., TERRY, R. S., SMITH, J. E. & HIDE, G. ( 2001). High levels of congenital transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in a commercial sheep flock. International Journal for Parasitology 14, 1699–1703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUTCHINSON, W. M. ( 1965). Experimental transmission of Toxoplasma gondii. Nature, London 206, 961–962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNSON, A. M. ( 1997). Speculation on possible life cycles for the clonal lineages in the genus Toxoplasma. Parasitology Today 13, 393–397.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNSON, J., SUZUKI, Y., MACK, D., MUI, E., ESTES, R., DAVID, C., SKAMENE, E., FORMAN, J. & McLEOD, R. ( 2002). Genetic analysis of influences on survival following Toxoplasma gondii infection. International Journal for Parasitology 32, 179–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OWEN, M. R. & TREES, A. J. ( 1998). Vertical transmission of Toxoplasma gondii from chronically infected house (Mus musculus) and field (Apodemus sylvaticus) mice determined by polymerase chain reaction. Parasitology 116, 299–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MARSHALL, P., HUGHES, J. M., WILLIAMS, R. H., SMITH, J. E., MURPHY, R. G. & HIDE, G. ( 2004). Detection of high levels of congenital transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in natural urban mouse populations of Mus domesticus. Parasitology 128, 39–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacALLISTER, M. M., McGUIRE, A. M., JOLLEY, W. R., LINDSAY, D. A., TREES, A. J. & STOBART, R. H. ( 1996). Experimental neosporosis in pregnant ewes and their offspring. Veterinary Pathology 33, 647–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHARES, G., PETERS, M., WURM, R., BARWALD, A. & CONRATHS, F. J. ( 1998). The efficacy of vertical transmission of Neospora caninum in dairy cattle analysed by serological techniques. Veterinary Parasitology 80, 87–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TENTER, A. M., HECKEROTH, A. R. & WEISS, L. M. ( 2000). Toxoplasma gondii: from animals to humans. International Journal for Parasitology 30, 1217–1258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TERRY, R. S., SMITH, J. E., DUNCANSON, P. & HIDE, G. ( 2001). MGE-PCR a novel approach to the analysis of Toxoplasma gondii strain differentiation using mobile genetic elements. International Journal for Parasitology 31, 155–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WILLIAMS, R. H., MORLEY, E. K., HUGHES, J. M., DUNCANSON, P., TERRY, R. S., SMITH, J. E. & HIDE, G. ( 2005). High levels of congenital transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in longitudinal and cross-sectional studies on sheep farms provides evidence of vertical transmission in ovine hosts. Parasitology 130, 301–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar