A six-year epidemiological study of selected zoonotic abortifacient agents in ovine and caprine foetuses in Türkiye.

Abortion is one of the major threats to the livestock industry, and it also poses significant threats to public health since some of the abortifacient agents are considered zoonotic. (), (), (), and Cache Valley virus (CVV) are recognized as important zoonotic and abortifacient agents of reproductive failure in small ruminants. This study determined the prevalence of these agents in ovine and caprine foetuses in Türkiye. A total of 1 226 foetuses were collected from the sheep (n = 1 144) and goats (n = 82) from different flocks between 2012 and 2017. Molecular detection methods were used to detect , , and DNA and CVV RNA in aborted foetuses. In this study, was the most prevalent abortifacient agent among the investigated ovine (264/1144) and caprine (12/82) foetuses, followed by with a frequency of 2.8% (32/1144) and 8.5% (7/82) in ovine and caprine foetuses, respectively. DNA was detected in 28 (2.4%) and 2 (2.4%) of the ovine and caprine foetuses, respectively. However, CVV RNA was not detected. Although the predominant mixed infection was and , mixed infection of and , and and were also found. The information presented in this study contributes to the understanding of the roles of , , , and CVV in abortions in small ruminants, and could be beneficial for developing more effective control strategies.