Neospora caninum infection in an aborted bovine foetus in Brazil

Abstract

Extract

Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan protozoan parasite first reported in dogs (Bjerkås et al., 1984; Dubey et al., 1988a, Dubey et al., 1988b) and subsequently recognised as a cause of bovine abortion (Dubey and Lindsay, 1993). Natural N. caninum infections have been reported in other animal species including the goat, sheep, horse and deer (Dubey and Lindsay, 1996). The dog was recently identified as definitive host of the parasite (McAllister et al., 1998). Neospora caninum has a worldwide distribution (Barber et al., 1995; Duivenvoorden, 1995; Jardine and Wells, 1995; Stenlund et al., 1997; Thornton et al., 1991; Umemura et al., 1992) but the presence of N. caninum in Brazil has not been confirmed.