Experimental transmission of epizootic bovine abortion (foothill abortion).

Advances in defining the biology of epizootic bovine abortion (EBA), including identification of the etiologic agent, have been hampered by the inability to reproduce the disease with confidence. Experimental reproduction of EBA, by feeding the tick vector Ornithodoros coriaceus on susceptible pregnant heifers, is not reliable. The primary objectives of this study were to identify specific tissue(s) obtained from EBA-infected fetuses that could transmit the disease, and then utilize such an infectious challenge system to better define the pathogen, host immunity and geographic distribution of the agent.