Small ruminant abortions in The Netherlands during lambing season 2012–2013

Abortion in small ruminants can be caused by various non-infectious and infectious agents (Givens and Marley 2008, Holler 2012). Several infectious agents can cause serious disease in human beings. As a consequence, abortion results in reproductive loss and also can have severe zoonotic implications, as became apparent in 2007–2010 when Coxiella burnetii , originating from dairy goat farms with abortion storms, caused one of the largest recorded community outbreaks of Q fever (Roest and others 2011). This outbreak stimulated the development of the so-called one-health concept, and also increased awareness towards the zoonotic potential of infectious causes of abortion in small ruminants (van den Brom and others 2012). Monitoring causes of abortion is of economic interest for farmers, and is also important for the benefit and health of the animal keeper himself, farm visitors, citizens living in the surroundings and of other animal species. Reports of incidences and causes of abortion from different countries vary (Plagemann 1989, Kirkbride 1993, Moeller 2001, Buxton and others 2002, Chanton-Greutmann and others 2002, Szeredi and others 2006, Masala and others 2007, van den Brom and others 2012), and may change over time due to changes in climate, housing and breeding systems, introduction of new infectious agents, or control measures, like vaccination (Vellema and Van den Brom 2013). Therefore, we describe our observations on causes and incidences of abortion in small ruminants in The Netherlands during the lambing season 2012–2013, and compare these findings with data from the 2006–2011 lambing seasons and those of other countries. The results of laboratory investigations on ovine and caprine cases of abortion were analysed using the pathology records of submissions to the GD Animal …