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An outbreak of 92 abortions out of 1,700 pregnant cows (5.41%) in a period of 3 weeks (19 May to 05 June 2019) occurred in a Georgia Dairy, USA, in cattle that were between 3 and 7 months of gestation. Two sets of samples (aborted fetuses' organs, placental tissues, aborted cows blood) were submitted for laboratory investigations at the Tifton Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia (TVDIL, Tifton, GA, USA). An abortion panel testing for the major abortion-causing agents [e.g. Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV), Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus/ Bovine Herpes Virus-I (IBR/ BHV-I), Brucella spp., Leptospira spp.] was conducted on several of the samples. On the first set of samples, microbial cultures, serology and PCR tests for the common abortifacient agents revealed the presence of Neospora caninum (N. caninum) DNA, which was positive by PCR on the placenta and fetal tissues. The second set of diagnostic investigations also identified two out of three submitted freshly aborted fetuses to be positive for N. caninum by PCR and immunohistochemistry. Moreover, all three dams were also sero-positive for N. caninum. The entire herd was being fed on grass silage harvested from a pasture where feral pigs were hunted previously and carcasses were left behind. As a consequence of this action a large population of wild coyotes were attracted to these carcasses, and likely contaminated the pasture with potential N. caninum-infected feces. After the abortion outbreak was resolved, it was recommended that the farmers should avoid disposal of cadavers of hunted animals in the wild, as it could attract carnivorous and omnivorous animals that may potentially spread the disease to the cattle and other wildlife., (© 2020 The Authors. Veterinary Medicine and Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The prevalence of Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in free-ranging white-tailed deer (WTD, Odocoileus virginianus) in the state of Georgia was evaluated using ear notches collected from hunter-harvested deer during the hunting season of 2010-2011. From September to December 2010, 367 ear samples from WTD were collected from 37 counties in Georgia. The samples were from 178 (48.5%) female deer, 187 (51%) male deer, and 2 (0.5%) of unknown sex. The age of the animals varied from 6 months to 6.5 years. The age was not recorded in 34 animals (9.3%). Of the animals with known ages, 42% were under 2 years. Screening of 367 samples for BVDV using an antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (AgELISA) resulted in 364 negative samples and 3 suspect samples. The 3 suspect samples were negative for BVDV reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), virus isolation, and immunohistochemistry. A subpopulation of samples (n = 89) selected from various geographical regions also tested negative for BVDV RT-PCR. In conclusion, although a few of the samples were suspect for the presence of BVDV by AgELISA, the presence of the virus within the deer population studied could not be confirmed further.