The present investigation delineates the role of listeric infection in aborted ewes or those with history of abortion from organized farms of Kashmir region. A total of 141 clinical samples was analyzed for the isolation and identification of Listeria species. On analysis four isolates were identified as Listeria monocytogenes, while 24 were non-pathogenic Listeria species. Of the four L. monocytogenes isolates, two were isolated from brain tissue of aborted fetus (BrS10 and BrG36) while one each was isolated from vaginal swab (Vd13) and rectal swab (RS11) of the ewe. An overall isolation rate of 2.83 % was observed for L. monocytogenes and 17.02 % for non-pathogenic Listeria species. Further to reveal the pathogenic potential, the recovered L. monocytogenes isolates were subjected to the battery of in vitro pathogenicity test such as hemolytic activity on Sheep Blood Agar, Phosphatidyl Inositol-Phospholipase C activity on Agar Listeria according to Ottaviani and Agosti medium, multiplex PCR targeting virulence markers genes viz., prfA, plcA, actA, hly, inlC and in vivo chick embryo inoculation test. All the L. monocytogenes isolates recovered in the present study were potentially pathogenic and on comparison, a good correlation was observed among in vitro and in vivo pathogenicity test including multiplex PCR targeting virulence associated genes.
