Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis)
In the absence of livestock contact, recurring lamb mortality in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations previously exposed to pneumonia indicates the likely presence of carriers of pneumonia-causing pathogens, and possibly inadequate maternally derived immunity. To investigate this problem we c...
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| Format: | Online |
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The Company of Biologists Ltd
2016
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| Online Access: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4920194/ |
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pubmed-4920194 |
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pubmed-49201942016-07-07 Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) Raghavan, Bindu Erickson, Kayla Kugadas, Abirami Batra, Sai A. Call, Douglas R. Davis, Margaret A. Foreyt, William J. Srikumaran, Subramaniam Research Article In the absence of livestock contact, recurring lamb mortality in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations previously exposed to pneumonia indicates the likely presence of carriers of pneumonia-causing pathogens, and possibly inadequate maternally derived immunity. To investigate this problem we commingled naïve, pregnant ewes (n=3) with previously exposed rams (n=2). Post-commingling, all ewes and lambs born to them acquired pneumonia-causing pathogens (leukotoxin-producing Pasteurellaceae and Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae), with subsequent lamb mortality between 4-9 weeks of age. Infected ewes became carriers for two subsequent years and lambs born to them succumbed to pneumonia. In another experiment, we attempted to suppress the carriage of leukotoxin-producing Pasteurellaceae by administering an antibiotic to carrier ewes, and evaluated lamb survival. Lambs born to both treatment and control ewes (n=4 each) acquired pneumonia and died. Antibody titers against leukotoxin-producing Pasteurellaceae in all eight ewes were ‘protective’ (>1:800 and no apparent respiratory disease); however their lambs were either born with comparatively low titers, or with high (but non-protective) titers that declined rapidly within 2-8 weeks of age, rendering them susceptible to fatal disease. Thus, exposure to pneumonia-causing pathogens from carrier ewes, and inadequate titers of maternally derived protective antibodies, are likely to render bighorn lambs susceptible to fatal pneumonia. The Company of Biologists Ltd 2016-05-16 /pmc/articles/PMC4920194/ /pubmed/27185269 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/bio.018234 Text en © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed. |
| repository_type |
Open Access Journal |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
US National Center for Biotechnology Information |
| building |
NCBI PubMed |
| collection |
Online Access |
| language |
English |
| format |
Online |
| author |
Raghavan, Bindu Erickson, Kayla Kugadas, Abirami Batra, Sai A. Call, Douglas R. Davis, Margaret A. Foreyt, William J. Srikumaran, Subramaniam |
| spellingShingle |
Raghavan, Bindu Erickson, Kayla Kugadas, Abirami Batra, Sai A. Call, Douglas R. Davis, Margaret A. Foreyt, William J. Srikumaran, Subramaniam Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) |
| author_facet |
Raghavan, Bindu Erickson, Kayla Kugadas, Abirami Batra, Sai A. Call, Douglas R. Davis, Margaret A. Foreyt, William J. Srikumaran, Subramaniam |
| author_sort |
Raghavan, Bindu |
| title |
Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) |
| title_short |
Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) |
| title_full |
Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) |
| title_fullStr |
Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) |
| title_sort |
role of carriers in the transmission of pneumonia in bighorn sheep (ovis canadensis) |
| description |
In the absence of livestock contact, recurring lamb mortality in bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations previously exposed to pneumonia indicates the likely presence of carriers of pneumonia-causing pathogens, and possibly inadequate maternally derived immunity. To investigate this problem we commingled naïve, pregnant ewes (n=3) with previously exposed rams (n=2). Post-commingling, all ewes and lambs born to them acquired pneumonia-causing pathogens (leukotoxin-producing Pasteurellaceae and Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae), with subsequent lamb mortality between 4-9 weeks of age. Infected ewes became carriers for two subsequent years and lambs born to them succumbed to pneumonia. In another experiment, we attempted to suppress the carriage of leukotoxin-producing Pasteurellaceae by administering an antibiotic to carrier ewes, and evaluated lamb survival. Lambs born to both treatment and control ewes (n=4 each) acquired pneumonia and died. Antibody titers against leukotoxin-producing Pasteurellaceae in all eight ewes were ‘protective’ (>1:800 and no apparent respiratory disease); however their lambs were either born with comparatively low titers, or with high (but non-protective) titers that declined rapidly within 2-8 weeks of age, rendering them susceptible to fatal disease. Thus, exposure to pneumonia-causing pathogens from carrier ewes, and inadequate titers of maternally derived protective antibodies, are likely to render bighorn lambs susceptible to fatal pneumonia. |
| publisher |
The Company of Biologists Ltd |
| publishDate |
2016 |
| url |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4920194/ |
| _version_ |
1613599447141318656 |