Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus

• Sporadic abortion in cows and sheep
• 10% of ovine abortions in the UK
• Enteric organism of sheep, goats and cattle; faecal-oral transmission
• Ingestion during last trimester of pregnancy causes a bacteraemia
• Bacteria reach the uterus
• Necrotic placentitis causes late abortion, still birth or weak lambs
• Sporadic abortion in cattle
• Aborted lambs may have round necrotic lesions on surface of liver
• Aborting ewes source of infection for vulnerable animals
• Up to 20% of flock may abort
• Solid immunity developed
• S layer immunodominant antigen
• Diagnosis: hepatic lesions in lambs; presence of organisms in foetal abomasum; isolation and identification
• Treatment/control: isolate aborting ewes; destroy placenta; move other ewes to clean pasture; vaccinate flock with bacterin during outbreak and prophylactically; chlortetracycline in feed in an outbreak