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Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which causes the disease tick-borne fever (TBF), is the most important tick-borne pathogen in European animals. TBF may contribute to severe welfare challenges and economic losses in the Norwegian sheep industry. The bacterium causes a persistent infection in sheep and sev...

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Autores principales: Stuen, Snorre, Okstad, Wenche, Sagen, Anne Mette
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5876579/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29495651
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci5010025
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author Stuen, Snorre
Okstad, Wenche
Sagen, Anne Mette
author_facet Stuen, Snorre
Okstad, Wenche
Sagen, Anne Mette
author_sort Stuen, Snorre
collection PubMed
description Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which causes the disease tick-borne fever (TBF), is the most important tick-borne pathogen in European animals. TBF may contribute to severe welfare challenges and economic losses in the Norwegian sheep industry. The bacterium causes a persistent infection in sheep and several other animal species. The objective of this study was to investigate whether intrauterine transmission occurs in persistently infected sheep. The study included thirteen 5–6-month-old unmated ewes, of which twelve were experimentally infected with A. phagocytophilum (GenBank acc. no. M73220). Four to six weeks later, all ewes were mated, and nine became pregnant. Blood samples were collected from these ewes and their offspring. If the lamb died, tissue samples were collected. The samples were analyzed with real-time PCR (qPCR) targeting the msp2 gene. PCR-positive samples were further analyzed by semi-nested PCR and 16S rDNA sequencing. A total of 20 lambs were born, of which six died within two days. Six newborn lambs (30%) were PCR-positive (qPCR), of which one was verified by 16S rDNA sequencing. The present study indicates that intrauterine transmission of A. phagocytophilum in persistently infected sheep may occur. The importance of these findings for the epidemiology of A. phagocytophilum needs to be further investigated.
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spelling pubmed-58765792018-03-30 Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs Stuen, Snorre Okstad, Wenche Sagen, Anne Mette Vet Sci Article Anaplasma phagocytophilum, which causes the disease tick-borne fever (TBF), is the most important tick-borne pathogen in European animals. TBF may contribute to severe welfare challenges and economic losses in the Norwegian sheep industry. The bacterium causes a persistent infection in sheep and several other animal species. The objective of this study was to investigate whether intrauterine transmission occurs in persistently infected sheep. The study included thirteen 5–6-month-old unmated ewes, of which twelve were experimentally infected with A. phagocytophilum (GenBank acc. no. M73220). Four to six weeks later, all ewes were mated, and nine became pregnant. Blood samples were collected from these ewes and their offspring. If the lamb died, tissue samples were collected. The samples were analyzed with real-time PCR (qPCR) targeting the msp2 gene. PCR-positive samples were further analyzed by semi-nested PCR and 16S rDNA sequencing. A total of 20 lambs were born, of which six died within two days. Six newborn lambs (30%) were PCR-positive (qPCR), of which one was verified by 16S rDNA sequencing. The present study indicates that intrauterine transmission of A. phagocytophilum in persistently infected sheep may occur. The importance of these findings for the epidemiology of A. phagocytophilum needs to be further investigated. MDPI 2018-02-28 /pmc/articles/PMC5876579/ /pubmed/29495651 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci5010025 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Stuen, Snorre
Okstad, Wenche
Sagen, Anne Mette
Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
title Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
title_full Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
title_fullStr Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
title_full_unstemmed Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
title_short Intrauterine Transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Persistently Infected Lambs
title_sort intrauterine transmission of anaplasma phagocytophilum in persistently infected lambs
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5876579/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29495651
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/vetsci5010025
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