and infections in sheep and goats in Switzerland: Seroprevalence and occurrence in aborted foetuses.

and infections are important causes of abortion in ruminants. Besides, meat from infected animals represent a major infection source for humans. The occurrence of these protozoan parasites in Switzerland was investigated both, in a nationwide cross-sectional serological survey, and by molecular methods in aborted sheep and goat foetuses. A total of 653 sheep from 143 farms and 748 goats from 164 farms were tested by commercial ELISAs and inconclusive results were defined by immunoblot. Besides, a risk factor analysis for seropositivity was performed. The observed seroprevalences for in sheep and goats were 66.3% and 50.5% at the animal level, and 90.9% and 81.1% at the farm level, respectively. For , the detected seroprevalences in sheep and goats were 0.8% and 0.9% at the animal level, and 2.8% and 1.8% at the farm level, respectively. Older small ruminants, and sheep (vs. goats) had a higher risk of being seropositive to Alpine grazing in summer was identified as a protective factor for seropositivity to in both animal species. and DNA were detected in 6.1% and 2.4% ( = 82), and in 6.8% and 1.4% ( = 73) of the tested ovine and caprine foetuses, respectively. These results suggest the involvement of these parasites in abortions and reveal a high prevalence of and lower prevalence of infections in small ruminants in Switzerland. They also suggest that consumption of undercooked meat from infected sheep and goats may represent a risk for public health.