Herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors for Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus in commercial dairy and beef cattle in eastern, northern and northeastern China

Abstract

Although the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus and bovine viral diarrhea virus infection in cattle have been reported in some areas in China, most of them were conducted with small number of cattle samples and very limited districts and neglected the assessment of herd management factors associated with herd-level prevalence of these pathogen infections. Thus, from September 2013 to December 2014, a large-scale seroprevalence study was conducted to determine the animal-level and herd-level seroprevalence and identify herd-level risk factors associated with these pathogen infections in 4487 cattle from 134 herds in five provinces (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Hebei) and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. At animal level, the true prevalence of antibodies against T. gondii, N. caninum, C. abortus and bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV) was 10.48, 17.14, 11.92 and 50.10%, respectively. At herd level, the true prevalence of antibodies against T. gondii, N. caninum, C. abortus and BVDV was 27.16, 29.10, 37.31 and 40.30%, respectively. Multivariate analysis of these characteristics showed that source of water and presence of felids were significantly associated with T. gondii infection in the studied cattle herds. Source of water was significantly associated with N. caninum infection in the studied cattle herds. While herd size and management system were significantly associated with BVDV infection in the studied cattle herds, this is the first report of herd-level prevalence and associated risk factors of T. gondii, N. caninum, C. abortus and BVDV infection in cattle in China.

Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with Neospora caninum in crossbred dairy cows in Uberlândia

“…The risk factors identified in this study, such as the number of cows over two years old, abortion history, and frequent purchase of animals were previously reported (GHALMI et al, 2012;SUN et al, 2015). The main clinical manifestation of cattle infected with N. caninum is abortion (HUSSIEN et al, 2012), which was also observed in this study, because the animals that presented a history of abortion had a 12.8 fold greater risk of infection.…”

“…Running water was reported as a possible source of infection for cattle (SUN et al, 2015) because, according to these authors, cattle could consume water contaminated with N. caninum oocysts from feces of infected dogs. Dogs can have access to drinking water and at the same time defecate within or near the water source.…”

“…Poor quality of water, the presence of dogs, poor hygiene conditions, and a history of abortions have already been reported as risk factors (GHALMI et al, 2012;SUN et al, 2015). In Brazil, the type of herd, method of herd management, presence of definitive hosts (SARTOR et al, 2005), and reproductive problems such as repeated breeding, history of abortion, and anestrus (BRUHN et al, 2013) have been reported as risk factors.…”

“…Neosporosis has been identified in several countries, with the following reported seroprevalences: Morocco -8.52% (15/176) (LUCCHESE et al, 2016), (SUN et al, 2015), (GHALMI et al, 2012), (DUONG et al, 2008), Japan -5.7% (139/2420) (KOIWAI et al, 2006), (KYAW et al, 2004), United States -10.34% (9/87) to 32.11% (105/327) , Venezuela -11.3% (52/459) (LISTA-ALVES et al, 2006), Paraguay -29.8% (262/879) (OSAWA et al, 2002), and Spain -35.9% (402/1121) (QUINTANILLA-GOZALO et al, 1999). Antibodies against N. caninum were detected in serum from dairy cattle from herds located in several Brazilian states (RAGOZO et al, 2003), and a seroprevalence of 16.83% (101/600) was reported in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais (COSTA et al, 2001).…”

Sero-Epidemiological Study of Selected Zoonotic and Abortifacient Pathogens in Cattle at a Wildlife-Livestock Interface in South Africa

“…While some typically cause clinical disease, others are underreported because of their often asymptomatic infection in animals (Ayinmode et al 2017, Salifu et al 2019. Exposure of apparently healthy cattle to pathogens of zoonotic and reproductive significance is often detected by serological assays (Sun et al 2015, Ayinmode et al 2017.…”