Toxoplasma gondii, goats, prevention of abortion and neonatal death by vaccination with nonpathogenic coccidium Hammondia hammondi

An avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex immunoperoxidase staining method was developed to detect Neospora caninum in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Specific antiserum to N caninum was made in rabbits and used to probe tissues from dogs naturally and experimentally infected with N caninum. The test detected tachyzoites and bradyzoites of N caninum. A reaction was not observed to Toxoplasma gondii, Hammondia hammondi, Sarcocystis cruzi, S capricanis, S tenella, Besnoitia jellisoni, Caryospora bigenetica, Hepatazoon canis, Atoxoplasma sp, or the organism causing canine dermal coccidiosis. When antiserum made in rabbits to T gondii was used in the test, reaction to N caninum was not observed.

The prevalence and intensity of Cryptosporidium infection were examined in 445 Holstein calves at 10 dairy farms in western Washington, near Seattle. Fifty-one percent (176) of calves in the 7- to 21-day-old age group (n = 342) were positive for oocysts in the feces by carbolfuchsin staining. Prevalence and intensity of infection were highest in calves 8 to 14 days old; prevalence was 60% in this group, and 48% of the Cryptosporidium-positive calves had oocyst shedding at a 4+ level. A seasonal pattern in prevalence was not evident.

In 1985, 22 pony foals reared in a helminth-free environment were tested daily for oocysts of Cryptosporidium sp by use of fecal flotation. Oocysts were found in all foals. Oocysts were first observed in feces collected from foals 9 to 28 days after birth. The mean period of oocyst shedding was 10 days and ranged from 2 to 18 days in individual foals. Diarrhea was observed in 14 of 22 (64%) foals and began before the period of oocyst shedding. Fecal samples also wre examined for other infective agents. Salmonella poona was isolated from 1 foal that did not have diarrhea, and coronavirus particles were observed in the feces of 2 foals with diarrhea. Cryptosporidium sp oocytes also were observed in feces of 2 of 17 Thoroughbred foals, 3 of 14 Quarter Horse foals, and 3 of 26 pony foals reared on pastures with their dams. Samples from pasture-reared foals were collected at irregular intervals. Of the 11 Crytosporidium-positive fecal samples collected from pastured foals, 2 were from foals with diarrhea. A similar survey was conducted during the 1986 foaling season, using the same procedures. Examination of 300 samples from 58 Quarter Horse, Arabian, and pony foals did not detect oocysts. Daily examination of feces from 10 pony foals reared under helminth-free conditions for 30 days also failed to detect Cryptosporidium oocysts.

Toxoplasma gondii, clinical disease in nonvaccinated dairy goats, protective immunity against clinical toxoplasmosis in dairy goats vaccinated with Hammondia hammondi but not H. heydorni, antibody to T. gondii in vaccinated and challenge exposed goats