Epidemiology and Control of Neosporosis andNeospora caninum

Abstract

SUMMARY Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite of animals. Until 1988, it was misidentified as Toxoplasma gondii. Since its first recognition in dogs in 1984 and the description of the new genus and species Neospora caninum in 1988, neosporosis has emerged as a serious disease of cattle and dogs worldwide. Abortions and neonatal mortality are a major problem in livestock operations, and neosporosis is a major cause of abortion in cattle. Although antibodies to N. caninum have been reported, the parasite has not been detected in human tissues. Thus, the zoonotic potential is uncertain. This review is focused mainly on the epidemiology and control of neosporosis in cattle, but worldwide seroprevalences of N. caninum in animals and humans are tabulated. The role of wildlife in the life cycle of N. caninum and strategies for the control of neosporosis in cattle are discussed.

Temporal trends in bulk milk antibodies to Salmonella, Neospora caninum, and Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo in Irish dairy herds

“…Animals infected with N. caninum often only demonstrate a detectable antibody rise in late lactation. This corresponds to the reported increased risk of abortions associated with N. caninum in month's five to eight of pregnancy (Dubey et al, 2007). Therefore, the increase in both the number of herds testing positive for and incidence of N. caninum at the final sampling time point was an expected result especially for herds containing spring calving animals which would be in late lactation and in mid to late gestation at this time point.…”

“…However, the association between both testing positive for and incidence of L. hardjo with region could not be examined in the current study. As N. caninum infection is not spread directly from cow to cow (Dubey et al, 2007), both inter and intra-herd spread is likely to be less affected by cattle densities within regions. Therefore, the lack of association between both testing positive for (p = 0.88) and incidence (p = 0.43) of N. caninum with region was an expected result.…”

NcGRA2as a molecular target to assess the parasiticidal activity of toltrazuril againstNeospora caninum

“…However, the presence of parasite DNA or antigens in infected tissue does not necessarily provide information on parasite viability, and conventional in vivo/in vitro tests are being used by inoculating appropriate samples into mice or cell cultures (Dubey et al 2007). Since these methods can often be time-consuming and inconclusive, we tackled the problem by addressing parasite mRNA as a target to demonstrate viability or non-viability of organisms.…”

Molecular detection of protozoa of the Sarcocystidae family in sheep from the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease that affects many species of animals; however, felids are the definitive hosts (FRENKEL et al, 1970;DUBEY, 2009). Canids are definitive hosts of N. caninum, which is also a major cause of abortion in cattle (GONDIM, 2006;DUBEY et al, 2007). A large number of tissue cysts are found in T. gondii seropositive sheep (DUBEY & JONES, 2008).…”

“…They are responsible for causing abortion and reproductive problems in ruminants (DUBEY et al, 2007;DUBEY, 2009). Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease that affects many species of animals; however, felids are the definitive hosts (FRENKEL et al, 1970;DUBEY, 2009).…”