Tritrichomonas foetus: Prevalence study in naturally mating bulls in Switzerland

Bernasconi, Christoph; Bodmer, Michèle; Doherr, M.G.; Janett, F.; Thomann, Andreas; Spycher, Cornelia; Iten, C.; Hentrich, Brigitte; Gottstein, Bruno; Müller, Norbert; Frey, Caroline (2014). Tritrichomonas foetus: Prevalence study in naturally mating bulls in Switzerland. Veterinary parasitology, 200(3-4), pp. 289-294. Elsevier 10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.12.029

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Switzerland is officially free from bovine Tritrichomonas foetus. While bulls used for artificial insemination (AI) are routinely examined for this pathogen, bulls engaged in natural mating, as well as aborted fetuses, are only very sporadically investigated, indicating that the disease awareness for bovine tritrichomoniasis is low. Natural mating in cattle is becoming increasingly popular in Switzerland. Accordingly, a re-introduction/re-occurrence of T. foetus in cattle seems possible either via resurgence from a yet unknown bovine reservoir, or via importation of infected cattle. The low disease awareness for bovine tritrichomoniasis might favor an unnoticed re-establishment of T. foetus in the Swiss cattle population. The aim of our study was thus to search for the parasite, and if found, to assess the prevalence of bovine T. foetus in Switzerland. We included (1) bulls over two years of age used in natural mating and sent to slaughter, (2) bulls used for natural service in herds with or without fertility problems and (3) aborted fetuses. Furthermore, the routinely examined bulls used for AI (4) were included in this study. In total, 1362 preputial samples from bulls and 60 abomasal fluid samples of aborted fetuses were analyzed for the presence of T. foetus by both in vitro cultivation and molecular analyses. The parasite could not be detected in any of the samples, indicating that the maximal prevalence possibly missed was about 0.3% (95% confidence). Interestingly, in preputial samples of three bulls of category 1, apathogenic Tetratrichomonas sp. was identified, documenting a proof-of-principle for the methodology used in this study.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Parasitology
05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > Veterinary Public Health / Herd Health Management
05 Veterinary Medicine > Research Foci > Host-Pathogen Interaction
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV)
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > Clinic for Ruminants
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Research and Veterinary Public Health (DCR-VPH) > Veterinary Public Health Institute
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathobiology (DIP) > Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology

UniBE Contributor:

Bernasconi, Christoph, Bodmer, Michèle, Doherr, Marcus, Thomann, Andreas, Spycher, Cornelia, Hentrich, Brigitte, Gottstein, Bruno, Müller, Norbert, Frey Marreros Canales, Caroline Franziska

Subjects:

600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology)

ISSN:

0304-4017

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Patrik Zanolari

Date Deposited:

06 Jan 2015 14:03

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:25

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.vetpar.2013.12.029

PubMed ID:

24447668

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.61415

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/61415

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