Table 2b. Abortion diagnosis in Great Britain, UK (reporting partner: APHA).
| Pathogen / Test | Histopathology | Bacteriology | Serology
(ancillary test) |
PCR or RT-PCR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Culture | MZN | ||||
| Coxiella burnetii | P | P; FSC | B (ELISA) | P; FF | |
| Anaplasma sp. * | F | B | |||
| Brucella sp. | FSC; P | P; FSC | B (RBT, ELISA) | ||
| Campylobacter sp. | FSC | ||||
|
Campylobacter fetus subsp.
venerealis * (cattle) |
FSC | ||||
| Chlamydia abortus | P | P; FSC | B (ELISA) | P | |
| Leptospira sp. | F | B (MAT, ELISA) | F (kidney) | ||
| Mycoplasma sp. * | F | See PCR 1 | B ( M. bovis ELISA) | FSC (culture / DGGE
/ PCR) |
|
| Tritrichomonas foetus* | VF, SW 2 | ||||
| Ureaplasma sp. * | F | See PCR 1 | FSC (culture / DGGE / PCR) | ||
|
Other bacteria (e.g.
Salmonella sp., Listeria sp., Yersinia sp., Trueperella sp., Bacillus sp.) |
P, F | FSC | |||
| Neospora caninum | F | B (ELISA) | F (brain) | ||
| Toxoplasma gondii | P, F | B (LAT) | P (cotyledon) | ||
| Bluetongue virus * | F | B (ELISA) | B, F (spleen, brain) | ||
| Bovine herpesvirus (BHV-1) * | F | B (ELISA) | F (liver, lung) | ||
| Pestivirus (BD / BVD) | P, F | B (Antibody
ELISA; antigen ELISA for BVD) |
F (spleen or thymus) | ||
| Schmallenberg virus * | F | B (ELISA) | B; F (brain, spinal
cord); FF |
||
|
Mycoses (particularly
Aspergillus sp.) |
P, F | FSC (P) | |||
B, maternal blood; FF, fetal fluids; F, fetus; FSC, fetal stomach contents; P, placenta; SW, sheath washings; VF, vaginal fluids. MZN, Modified Ziehl-Neelsen stain of smear; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; LAT, Latex Agglutination Test; MAT, microscopic agglutination test; RBT, Rose Bengal test. DGGE, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis.
* Pathogens not included in the standard abortion protocol.
1 For Mycoplasma sp. (including Ureaplasma sp.), a combined test comprising culture, DGGE, and PCR.
2 Tested by culture and microscopy
Great Britain is officially brucellosis free ( Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, B. ovis). Ruminant abortion (including premature birth) submissions are screened for Brucella sp. as part of continued surveillance.