Pathology ofCampylobacter jejuniAbortion in Sheep

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni was inoculated intravenously into pregnant ewes on gestation days 1 14 and 123 to reproduce ovine abortion. All ewes aborted 7-1 2 days post-inoculation. High numbers of C. jejuni were isolated from ewe tissues (caruncle, bile, cecal feces), fetal tissues, and placenta. C. jejuni colonies were identified in caruncles and placenta by light microscopy and immunoperoxidase techniques. Histologically, inoculated ewes had a severe purulent endometritis with vasculitis. Placentas from inoculated ewes and field cases showed necrosis and purulent inflammation; however, placentas from inoculated ewes had large numbers of bacterial colonies compared to few bacteria found in field cases. Histologically, only one fetus from the inoculated ewes showed lesions (purulent bronchopneumonia), whereas all fetuses from field cases had a distinct bronchopneumonia, and one fetus showed multifocal hepatic necrosis. These results suggest that C. jejuni (serotypes Penner 1 and Lior 2) is an important abortifacient organism for sheep. Campylobacteriosis is a highly contagious and economically significant disease in sheep and is most often caused by Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus (previously named C. fetus var. intestinalis).15.32 It is characterized by abortion (third trimester), stillbirths, premature births, weak lambs, and occasional ewe deaths due to m e t r i t i~. '~,~~ Grossly, aborted or stillborn fetuses may have no lesions or they may show subcutaneous serosanguineous edema, serosanguineous body fluids, discrete necrotic liver lesions, or bronchopneumonia. Placental cotyledons are enlarged, yellowish, and covered with blood-tinged exudate, while the intercotyledonary stroma is edematous. Microscopically, placental lesions, which are predominant in hilar zones, consist of septa1 necrosis, arteriolitis, leukocyte infiltration, and accumulation of high numbers of bacteria within lacunae, chorionic trophoblasts, and endothelial cells. In humans, Campylobacter jejuni is recognized to be a common cause of acute dia~-rhea,~J~ and is associated with abortion and neonatal sepsis.33 Campylobacter organisms are small, curved, highly motile, noncapsulated, microaerophilic, gram-nega

Emergence of a Tetracycline-ResistantCampylobacter jejuniClone Associated with Outbreaks of Ovine Abortion in the United States

“…During the initial period of infection, ewes usually do not show clinical signs of disease; however, occasionally ewes die due to uterine sepsis and septicemia if the fetus dies and is retained in utero (39). Gross lesions in aborted ewes include thickened uterine walls with edema, swollen caruncles covered with exudate, and placentas with mottled swollen cotyledons (17). Aborted fetuses can be mildly to severely autolyzed and commonly have serosanguinous fluid in the abdomen and thorax and, less often, focal liver necrosis (17,20,39).…”

Campylobacter isolation from the feces of sheep with a history of reproductive disorders bred in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

“…Among the three species of Campylobacter capable of causing reproductive disorders in sheep, Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter fetus fetus (HEDSTROM et al, 1987;DIKER et al, 1988;SAHIN et al, 2008;BÜYÜK et al, 2011), only the latter was not isolated in this study of the herds of São Paulo. However, the same species were also isolated in previous studies in healthy animals (STANLEY et al, 1998;JONES et al, 1999).…”

“…Artificially inoculated females aborted in 100% of cases, with clinical signs similar to cases of natural infection, characterized by purulent endometritis and necropurulent placentitis with yellow cotyledons and edematous caruncles with hemorrhagic streaks, covered by mucoid-serosanguinous and fibrinous exudate (HEDSTROM et al, 1987). C. coli, in Turkey, was isolated and identified from vaginal discharge samples of two sheep and 10,25% of aborted foetus (BÜYÜK et al, 2011).…”

“…Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus are present worldwide and are the main species of Campylobacter that cause reproductive disorders in sheep (HEDSTROM et al, 1987;DIKER et al, 1988;SAHIN et al, 2008). These bacteria can be found in environments such as soil, water and food, most likely as result of contact with contaminant sources such as animal feces and aborted tissues (BROMAN et al, 2002;PITKÄNEN, 2013).…”

“…Campylobacteriosis in sheep are characterized by abortion in the last trimester of gestation, stillbirth, the birth of premature and weak lambs, and occasionally the death of ewes due to metritis (DENNIS, 1975;HEDSTROM et al, 1987;SAHIN et al, 2008;GRESSLER et al, 2012) and of lambs due to diarrhea and/or gastroenteritis (STANSFIELD et al, 1986). Many sheep have diarrhea before the first episode of abortion, and diarrhea occurs in approximately 10% of the herd (WALT, 1994).…”