title: Experimental infection of cattle with a feline isolate of Tritrichomonas foetus.
abstract: Tritrichomonas foetus is the causative agent of bovine trichomoniasis, a sexually transmitted disease in cattle that can result in large profit losses for cattle producers. Increasing reports have suggested that T. foetus is also the causative agent of large-bowel diarrhea in cats. To determine if the trichomonads recovered from the reproductive tract of cattle and the large intestine of cats can thrive in the same host, 2 groups of virgin Angus heifers were inoculated with T. foetus. The first group of heifers was inoculated with a bovine T. foetus isolate cultured from a naturally infected cow, and heifers in the second group were inoculated with T. foetus organisms cultured from the feces of a naturally infected cat. Over an 11-wk period, vaginal, cervical, and uterine mucus samples were analyzed, along with a single transcervical uterine biopsy sample, to determine organism and disease presence. The mucus and biopsy samples collected from each group indicate that the disease caused by feline and bovine isolates of T. foetus are comparable, but not identical.
authors.affiliation: Auburn University, Department of Pathobiology, 166 Greene Hall, Auburn, Alabama 36849, USA. stockhd@auburn.edu
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stockdale
authors.forename: Soren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodning
authors.forename: Maurice
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Givens
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lenz
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dykstra
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lindsay
authors.forename: Byron
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blagburn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy / Q000662:veterinary; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000635:transmission; D002415:Cats; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D002582:Cervix Mucus / Q000469:parasitology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal; D011897:Random Allocation; D016835:Tritrichomonas foetus / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D014599:Uterus / Q000473:pathology; D014621:Vagina / Q000469:parasitology