Contagious epididymitis due to Brucella ovis: relationship between sexual function, serology and bacterial shedding in semen

Abstract

BackgroundContagious Epididymitis (CE) due to Brucella ovis (B. ovis) is a contagious disease that impairs rams’ fertility due to epididymis, testicle and accessory sexual gland alterations. An increased incidence of CE has been observed in South Eastern France (“PACA” region) since the Rev.1 vaccination against B. melitensis has been stopped in 2008. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the infection by B. ovis and the sexual function of rams.Two-hundred eighteen sexually-mature rams, from 11 seropositive flocks, were submitted to a clinical examination of the genital tract, a semen collection by electro-ejaculation for spermogram and culture, and a serological examination for anti-B. ovis antibodies by complement fixation test (CFT) and indirect ELISA (I-ELISA). The relationships between clinical, seminal, bacteriological and serological parameters were studied using the Fisher exact test and a logistic regression model (binomial logit).ResultsB. ovis shedding in semen was significantly associated with seropositivity (CFT and I-ELISA; p < 0.001 and 0.01 respectively), genital tract alterations (p < 0.05) and poor semen quality (p < 0.001). Seropositive rams presented significantly more genital tract alterations (p < 0.001) and a poor seminal score (p < 0.001) than seronegative rams.ConclusionsSince semen culture is not routinely feasible in field conditions, a control plan of CE should be based, where Rev.1 vaccination is not possible, on both systematic clinical and serological examination of rams, followed by the culling of seropositive and/or genital tract alterations carrier rams.

Leptospira spp. and Brucella ovis seroprevalence in sheep: preliminary results of one year surveillance program

“…Based on our results, B. ovis seroprevalence in Tuscany appears to be zero. In accordance with our findings, B. ovis infection was not reported in Italy in recent years, even if the disease occurred recently in East Europe and France (Spicić et al, 2009, Petrović et al, 2014, Picard-Hagen et al, 2015.…”

A Carbonic Anhydrase Pseudogene Sensitizes Select Brucella Lineages to Low CO 2 Tension

“…Thus, it is possible that loss of bcaA function enhances Brucella fitness or persistence in tissues of natural (i.e., nonrodent) animal hosts by slowing growth. We note that B. ovis is almost entirely restricted to male reproductive tissue and is reported to be transmitted only through direct or venereal contact, via a transiently infected ewe (23,64,65). The rate of oxygen uptake and the partial pressure of CO 2 are higher in testes than in other tissues (66,67), and it is therefore conceivable that B. ovis has evolved a lifestyle in which carbonic anhydrases are no longer required.…”

Infectious epididymitis caused by Brucella ovis in Croatian sheep flocks

“…In this study, B. ovis was isolated in 59.1% of samples, which is a significant link between the visible pathological changes, which were found in 54.5% of examined testes samples. In a French study, B. ovis was isolated from 89 (44.95%) of 198 rams and the authors found a significant association (P < 0.05) between the results of bacteriological testing and clinical examinations (7). The isolates in the present study were identified as belonging to the species B. ovis, with an identical PCR profile in relation to the reference strain B. ovis 63/290, which confirms the high specificity of the multiplex PCR Bruce-ladder method.…”

“…There are good indications in the development of a new vaccine against B. ovis that has thus far been tested on mice (38). However, to date, only the vaccine B. melitensis Rev 1 has proven to be effective in the control of infections with the species B. ovis (1,7).…”