Abortion outbreak in a sheep flock caused by Toxoplasma gondii clonal type III

Toxoplasma gondii is a major cause of reproductive losses in small ruminants in several countries. We describe here an outbreak of T. gondii-associated abortion in sheep in Southern Brazil. The flock was comprised of 55 adult sheep, and late-term abortions and stillbirths were detected in 15/36 (41.66%) gestating ewes. Serum samples collected from 45 sheep were tested for T. gondii through indirect immunofluorescence assay; IgM and IgG positive results were detected in 44.44% (20/45) and 86.67% (39/45) of the cases, respectively. Four fetuses and two placentas were pathologically evaluated. Gross changes were restricted to fetal membranes and were characterized by multifocal white areas in the cotyledons. Microscopically, these areas corresponded to necrotic foci affecting the chorionic epithelium accompanied by rare cysts of T. gondii. The main histological change in fetal tissues consisted of well-demarked and sparsely distributed necrotic foci in the central nervous system. Tissue samples from all four fetuses and one placenta had positive PCR results for T. gondii. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) genotyping using ten markers (SAG1, 5'-3'SAG2, alt.SAG2, SGA3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, and PK1) was carried out on one sample, and results were consistent with T. gondii clonal type III (ToxoDB-PCR-RFLP genotype #2, TgCpBr4).