title: Vertical transmission of Theileria lestoquardi in sheep.
abstract: This is the first report of an outbreak of Theileria lestoquardi abortion and stillbirth in a mob of 450 ewes in July 2012, during which, approximately 35 late-term ewes lost their fetuses over a 5-day period. A dead ewe and her aborted fetus were transported to the Ahvaz Veterinary Hospital for the diagnostic evaluation. The microbial cultures from the ewe vaginal discharges and fetal abomasal contents and the liver were negative. The blood films of the ewe and her fetus contained Theileria piroplasms and the impression smears from ewe liver and fetal spleen were positive for Theileria Koch blue bodies. The DNA was extracted from the liver and spleen of ewe and her fetus, respectively, and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers derived from the nucleotide sequences of 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) gene of T. lestoquardi. A single fragment of 428-bp fragment was amplified. The PCR product was directly sequenced and the alignment of the sequence with similar sequences in GenBank(®) showed 100% identities with 18S rDNA gene of T. lestoquardi. The present study is the first report of the T. lestoquardi vertical transmission that could be related to the abortion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zakian
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran. Electronic address: m.nouri@scu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nouri
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Farid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barati
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Faculty of Sciences, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kahroba
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jolodar
authors.affiliation: Graduated from Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, Iran.
authors.forename: Fardokht
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rashidi
mesh_terms: D000034:Abortion, Veterinary / Q000209:etiology*; D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000662:veterinary*; D007492:Iran; D011247:Pregnancy; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000635:transmission*; D016794:Theileria / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D013801:Theileriasis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000635:transmission
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Abortion; Ewe; Theileria; Transplacental transmission