Brucella suis s2 isolated from aborted sheep fetuses in northwestern china

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the cause of abortion in a traditional sheep farm. Here, 31 specimens were examined by PCR targeting the Brucella outer membrane protein gene 22 (omp22), and 25 (80.6%, 25/31) were found to be positive. Totally, 3 Brucella suis S2 and 10 Brucella melitensis were isolated from 31 aborted fetuses in which one B. suis S2 and B. melitensis were isolated from a same aborted fetus. All of these isolates were identified by PCR and conventional bacterial tests. These 3 B. suis isolates and the reference strain B. suis S2 were all identified as B. suis biovar 1 and the 10 B. melitensis isolates were all identified as B. melitensis biovar 3. This study suggests that B. suis S2 can partially induce abortion in pregnant ewes. Hence, for the sake of safety, it is need to develop a new Brucella vaccine to protect pregnant sheep from brucellosis.

Keywords

• brucella suis s2
• sheep
• abortion
• china