Neospora caninum and Wildlife.

Sonia Almería

doi:10.5402/2013/947347

Abstract

Bovine neosporosis caused by Neospora caninum is among the main causes of abortion in cattle nowadays. At present there is no effective treatment or vaccine. Serological evidence in domestic, wild, and zoo animals indicates that many species have been exposed to this parasite. However, many aspects of the life cycle of N. caninum are unknown and the role of wildlife in the life cycle of N. caninum is still not completely elucidated. In North America, there are data consistent with a sylvatic cycle involving white tailed-deer and canids and in Australia a plausible sylvatic cycle could be occurring between wild dogs and their macropod preys. In Europe, a similar sylvatic cycle has not been established but is very likely. The present review is a comprehensive and up to date summary of the current knowledge on the sylvatic cycle of N. caninum, species affected and their geographical distribution. These findings could have important implications in both sylvatic and domestic cycles since infected wildlife may influence the prevalence of infection in cattle farms in the same areas. Wildlife will need to be taken into account in the control measures to reduce the economical losses associated with this important disease in cattle farms.

Highlights

Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular protozoan first described in dogs in 1984 [1] and identified since in a wide range of warm-blooded animals, including many wildlife species [2,3,4]
The species of wild ruminants reported as possible intermediate hosts (IH) of N. caninum in America include white-tailed deer, black-tailed deer, caribou, moose (Alces alces), American bison (Bison bison), musk ox (Ovibos moschatus), elk (Cervus canadensis), mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus hemionus), and Pampas deer (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) (Table 3)
In the most recent study, Dubey et al [13] tested N. caninum antibodies in sera from white-tailed deer from Minnesota and Iowa by four serologic tests including immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT), Neospora agglutination test (NAT), an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and western blot (WB) and observed very high seroprevalence in both states

Summary

Introduction

Neospora caninum is an obligate intracellular protozoan first described in dogs in 1984 [1] and identified since in a wide range of warm-blooded animals, including many wildlife species [2,3,4]. The first wild ruminants reported to be infected or seropositive to N. caninum were mostly cervids: N. caninum tissue cysts were found in the brain of a full-term stillborn Eld’s deer (Cervus eldi siamensis) in Paris Zoo [56], and antibodies were observed in black and white tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus and O. virginianus) [57, 58] in the USA, and in roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus) (both cervids), and in chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) (in the Bovidae family) in Europe [59].

Results

Conclusion