Abstract
The excretion of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in the faeces and milk, and humoral immunity against Lm, were examined in a sheep flock with outbreaks of listeric encephalitis and in a flock with outbreaks of listeric abortion. The encephalitis flock consisted of 86 ewes and 20 hoggs, the abortion flock of 45 ewes and 3 hoggs, all of them pregnant. Faecal excretion rate in the encephalitis flock varied from about 25 % in the first part of the indoor season to nearly zero 1 month later, to about 30 % 1 month before lambing and about 15 % at lambing. About 15 % of the animals also excreted Lm in the milk. Lm 4 was the dominating serotype.
In the abortion flock about 2/3 of the animals excreted Lm in the faeces and 1/3 in the milk at lambing. All the isolates belonged to serotype 1, which also was isolated from grass silage and strawbedding samples.
In the encephalitis flock ewes with ≥ 3 foetuses had a higher excretion rate than the remainder, while no such differences were found in the abortion flock.
Antibody titres against Lm in sera and whey in the encephalitis flock were of the same order as in the healthy flock described in an earlier publication (Grønstøl 1979), except that the highest titres were found in the hoggs. Serum titres from the abortion flock after lambing were significantly higher than in the encephalitis flock, while whey titres were of the same order.
Treatment with 2-mercapto-ethanol reduced the titres substantially in sera from the abortion flock, indicating that the antibodies belonged to the IgM-fraction, while only a slight reduction was seen after similar treatment of the whey.
Sammendrag
Utskiljing av Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) i faeces og mjølk, og utvikling av immunitet mot denne bakterien, blei undersøkt i ein saue-flokk med utbrot av listeria-emcephalitt og ein flokk med utbrot av listeria-abort. Av dei 86 sauene og 20 årslamma, alle drektige, i ence-phalitt-flokken, skilde omlag 25 % ut bakterien i faeces tidleg i inne-föringsperioden. Ein månad seinare var det berre eitt årslam som skiide ut Lm, 2 månader seinare omlag 30 %, og ved lamming blei Lm funnen i faeces og mjølk frå omlag 15 % av dyra. Storparten av dei isolerte stammene tilhøyrde serotype 4. Fleire utskiljarar blei funne mellom sauer med ≥ 3 foster enn mellom dei andre dyra i flokken.
I abortflokken skiide 2/3 av dyra ut Lm i faeces og 1/3 i mjølka ved lamning. Alle dei isolerte bakteriane tilhøyrde serotype 1, og denne serotypen blei og isolert frå siloprøver og talleprøver.
Antistoffnivået i sera og mjølk i encephalitt-flokken var omlag det same som i den friske flokken som var undersøkt tidlegare (Grønstøl 1979), men årslamma badide høgast titer. I abort-flokken derimot var titra etter lammimg tydeleg høgare enn i desse to flokkane, Anti-stofftitra i sera frå abort-flokken blei tydeleg reduserte etter behandling med 2-mercapto-ethanol, og dette tyder på at antistoffa høyrer til IgM-fraksjonen av immunglobulinene, mens berre ein svak reduksjon av antistofftitra i mjølk blei funne etter same behandlinga.
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This work was supported by grants from the Norwegian Agricultural Research Council.
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Grønstøl, H. Listeriosis in Sheep. Acta Vet Scand 20, 417–428 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03546603
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03546603