94 - Neosporosis

Abstract

•First Described: In 1984, in boxer dogs in Norway (Bjerkas et al.).1•Cause: Neospora caninum, a coccidial protozoan parasite (phylum Apicomplexa).•Affected Hosts: Dogs are the definitive hosts, and canids are the only species known to complete the sexual phase of N. caninum replication with passage of oocysts in the feces. Clinical illness primarily occurs in dogs and cattle. Livestock and many other species of animals, including dogs, act as intermediate hosts.•Geographic Distribution: Worldwide.•Mode of Transmission: Dogs can be infected transplacentally. Postnatally, dogs may be infected after they ingest infected tissues of intermediate hosts, bovine fetal membranes, or sporulated oocysts in the environment.•Major Clinical Signs: Stillbirth, abortion, ascending paralysis, muscle atrophy, neurologic (especially cerebellar) signs, nodular dermatitis, respiratory distress.•Differential Diagnoses: Toxoplasmosis, sarcocystosis, hepatozoonosis, deep mycoses, protothecosis, rabies, CDV infection, West Nile virus infection, canine monocytic ehrlichiosis, migrating ascarid infections, neuronal storage diseases, granulomatous meningoencephalitis, immune-mediated neuromuscular disease, primary or metastatic neoplasia.•Human Health Significance: Neospora caninum antibodies have been detected in some humans, but the parasite has not been detected in human tissues; therefore, zoonotic health consequences are still unclear.