Abstract
Between December 2016 and April 2017, a spate of abortions occurred in a closed dairy herd from the central eastern region of Paraná, Brazil, in which 75 cows aborted. To identify its cause, organ fragments were collected from an aborted fetus for histopathology, and the blood samples from a stillborn, 4 aborted fetuses, and 9 farm dogs for indirect fluorescent antibody technique (IFAT). These tests found multifocal non-suppurative encephalitis, periportal hepatitis, and multifocal lymphoplasmacytic myocarditis, and detected anti-Neospora antibodies in all aborted fetuses, and in 5 of the 9 dogs. DNA of Neospora caninum was detected in the brain tissue of an aborted fetus. Blood samples of 340 cows and 146 heifers showed 33.5% and 30.8% seropositivity, respectively. In this closed herd, the parasite was probably introduced by infected domesticated or wild carnivores inhabiting the farm, through the infective oocysts present in their stool.
Highlights
Neospora caninum (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) was first described as coccidia, present in the central nervous system and skeletal muscles of dogs with encephalomyelitis and myositis, respectively (Bjerkås, et al, 1984)
20% of the abortions in dairy herds from Brazil are associated with neosporosis, and the consequent annual losses incurred by the Brazilian dairy cattle industry were estimated to be about US$ 51.3 million (Reichel et al, 2013; Dubey et al, 2007)
In Paraná State, seropositivity was reported in 14.3% to 34.8% of the dairy herds (Locatelli-Dittrich et al, 2001; Guimarães et al, 2004), and N. caninum was detected in 23.5% of the aborted fetuses (Santos et al, 2005)
Summary
Neospora caninum (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) was first described as coccidia, present in the central nervous system and skeletal muscles of dogs with encephalomyelitis and myositis, respectively (Bjerkås, et al, 1984). Oocysts are excreted in the feces of the definitive hosts, and the cattle become infected through the contaminated water and food (McAllister et al, 1998; Dubey et al, 2007; Lindsay et al, 1999). These resources may prove to be common source of infection, and any exposure to these, can lead to abortion storms in a naïve herd (McAllister et al, 1996). Objective of this study was to report an outbreak of N. caninum induced abortions in a dairy farm in the Central Eastern mesoregion of Paraná State, Brazil, describing its epidemiological and clinical aspects, as well as the diagnostic methods
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