Table 2e. Abortion diagnosis in The Netherlands (reporting partner: Royal GD).
| Pathogen / Test | Histopathology 1 | Immuno-
histochemistry (IHC) 1 |
Bacteriology
(culture) |
Serology | PCR or RT-PCR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coxiella burnetii 2 | F; P | F; P | S (ELISA) | F; P | |
| Brucella sp. 3 | Mandatory sampling
of maternal sera from aborted cattle (RBT) |
||||
| Campylobacter sp. | F; P | FSC | |||
| Chlamydia abortus | F; P | F; P | S (ELISA) | F; P | |
| Leptospira sp. | F; P | F; P | S (cattle) | ||
| Mycoplasma | S ( M. bovis in cattle) | ||||
|
Other bacteria (e.g.
Salmonella
sp., Listeria sp., Yersinia sp., Trueperella sp ., Bacillus sp.) |
F; P | FSC |
Salmonella in cattle:
S (ELISA) |
||
| Neospora caninum | F; P | S (cattle) | |||
| Toxoplasma gondii | F; P | F; P | F; P | ||
| Bluetongue (BTV) * | F | Fetal serum (ELISA) | F (if the fetus shows
typical abnormalities) |
||
| Bovine herpesvirus (BHV-1) | F; P | F | S (IgE ELISA) | F | |
|
Pestivirus (BD/BVD-small
ruminants *; BVD-cattle) |
F | S (ELISA) | F (antigen ELISA) | ||
| Schmallenberg virus * | F | Fetal serum (ELISA) | F (if the fetus shows
typical abnormalities) |
F, fetus; P, placenta; S, maternal serum. ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; RBT, Rose Bengal test.
* Pathogens not included in the standard abortion protocol unless the fetus shows typical abnormalities fitting BTV or SBV.
1 Fetal tissues taken for histopathology and IHC include: CNS; liver; lung cardiac muscle (protozoa).
2 In sheep and goats, coxiellosis is a notifiable disease with an increased number of abortions notification criterion.
3 Brucella is not included in the ruminant abortion pathology protocol since The Netherlands is free. Brucellosis has been investigated in cattle by compulsory testing of aborted cattle. For small ruminants, sheep and goats from 1,475 farms are tested annually by serology (RBT).
More tests are not included in the table because samples are collected by the farmer: vaginal swabs of small ruminants for Chlamydia abortus PCR, deep throat swabs of aborted lambs/kids for PCR, and bacteriological examination for multiple causes of abortion.