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Toxoplasmosis and Border Disease in 54 Swedish Sheep Flocks

Seroprevalence and Incidence during one Gestation Period

Toxoplasmas och border disease hos får i Sverige: Seroprevalens och incidens under en dräktighets-period.

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica volume 33, pages 175–184 (1992)Cite this article

Abstract

Serum samples from 704 animals from 54 Swedish sheep flocks were analysed by ELISA twice during 1 breeding season for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and border disease virus (BDV). An ELISA, originally developed for the detection of antibodies to bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) in cattle, was assessed on sheep sera and the results were compared with those obtained in a virus neutralization test. The correlation between the 2 assays proved good.

Before breeding, 132 (19%) sheep in 42 flocks had antibodies to T. gondii and 7 (1%) sheep in 5 flocks were seropositive to BDV. During the observation period 4 sheep seroconverted to T. gondii and 13 to BDV, giving an incidence rate of 0.7% and 1.9% respectively. No clinical signs due to the infections were observed. In 5 flocks the frequency of barrenness, abortion or stillbirths exceeded 5%, 5% and 8%, respectively, but there was no evidence that this was attributable to the agents studied. The proportion of BDV-positive flocks was significantly higher among flocks that had been in contact with cattle than among those that had not.

Sammanfatting

Serumprover från 704 får i 54 svenska fårbesättningar analyserades vid 2 tillfällen, vid betäckning och vid lamning, avseende förekomsten av antikroppar mot Toxoplasma gondii och border disease virus (BDV). För detta ändamål utvärderades på fårsera en ELISA, som tidigare utvecklats för påvisande av antikroppar mot bovint virus diarre virus hos nöt. Mycket god överensstämmelse mellan resultaten från denna metod och virusneutralisationstest förelåg. Vid det första provtagningstillfället visade sig 132 (19%) får i 42 besättningar ha antikroppar mot T. gondii och 7 (1%) får i 5 besättningar mot BDV. Mellan de 2 provtagningarna serokonverterade 4 djur mot T. gondii och 13 mot BDV, motsvarande 0,7% incidens för Toxoplasma-infektion respektive 1,9% för BDV-infektion. Några kliniska symtom till följd av infektionerna iakttogs ej och de reproduktionsstörningar som noterades i 5 besättningar berodde med största sannolikhet på andrå orsaker än de 2 studerade infektionsämnena. Andelen besättningar med BDV-anti-kroppspositiva får var signifikant högre bland besättningar där fåren haft kontakt med nötkreatur än bland sådana där kontakt mellan de bägge djurslagen ej förekom.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cattle and Sheep Diseases, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Department of Virology, National Veterinary Institute, P. O. Box 7019, S-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    Anna Lundén, Ulla Carlsson & Katarina Näslund

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  1. Anna Lundén
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  2. Ulla Carlsson
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  3. Katarina Näslund
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Lundén, A., Carlsson, U. & Näslund, K. Toxoplasmosis and Border Disease in 54 Swedish Sheep Flocks. Acta Vet Scand 33, 175–184 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03547324

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Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica

ISSN: 1751-0147