Dogs are important in the epidemiology of Neospora caninum because they act as definitive hosts, shedding oocysts in the environment. The aim of the present survey was to evaluate the serological prevalence of Neospora caninum infection in urban and rural dogs in Ahvaz district, southwest of Iran. In this study, blood samples were taken from 100 rural dogs and 50 urban dogs. The dogs were categ...

Neospora caninum is a recently described apicomplexan parasite which causes neuromuscular disease in dogs, and abortion and neonatal morbidity in cattle, sheep and horses. Morphological similarities and serological cross-reactivity between N. caninum and the closely related parasite Toxoplasma gondii, have resulted in the frequent misdiagnosis of neosporosis as toxoplasmosis. This report descri...

Neospora caninum, a strictly intracellular protozoan, is a major leading cause of parasite-induced abortion in cattle. A widely held view of N. caninum infection is that both cellular proliferation and stage interconversion (tachyzoite-bradyzoite transformation) are triggered, perhaps even modulated by, changes in cultural conditions. This study tested the hypothesis that exposure of N. caninum...

Neosporosis, caused by an intracellular parasite, Neospora caninum, is an infectious disease primarily of cattle and dogs. It occurs worldwide and causes huge damages to dairy farms. In this study, we immunized mice with recombinant surface-associated protein 1 of N. caninum (rNcSAG1) and developed two novel monoclonal antibodies, A10 and H3, against NcSAG1 using phage-display technology. Both ...

Protective efficacy of vaccination with Neospora caninum multiple recombinant antigens against N. caninum infection was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Two major immunodominant surface antigens (NcSAG1 and NcSRS2) and two dense granule proteins (NcDG1 and NcDG2) of N. caninum tachyzoites were expressed in E. coli, respectively. An in vitro neutralization assay using polyclonal antisera raised a...

Neosporosis is an important cause of pregnancy loss in cattle worldwide. Protective immunity against Neospora caninum infection may include both cell-mediated (CMI) and humoral immune responses. This study was to establish short-term antigen-specific T cell lines composed of primarily CD4(+)T cells from peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of infected cows, which may be used to identify immunodom...

Introduction Toxoplasma gondii and the closely related Neospora caninum are important obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasites causing a wide range of diseases in different host species. Their life cycles are similar, consisting of a) asexual stage where multiplying tachyzoites trigger lesion development in different tissues and eventually develops to persistent tissue cysts in intermediat...

Affinity-purified 38 kDa surface antigen of Neospora caninum tachyzoites was used to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to diagnose N. caninum-associated abortion in cattle. The specificity of this antigen was demonstrated by using sera from cattle experimentally infected with other apicomplexan parasites. In a panel of field sera, serological differences could be demonstrated...

Neosporosis, caused by Neospora caninum, is an important cause of abortion in cattle and of neurological disease in dogs. This study investigated the prevalence and correlates of antibodies to N. caninum in 441 dogs from the five regions of mainland Portugal. A commercial competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) was used and specific antibodies were detected in 35 (7.9%) dogs. Ser...

A 4-week-old female Holstein Friesian calf presented with hindlimb paresis. Neurologic examination of spinal reflexes revealed depressed or absent reflexes of the hindlimbs. Menace responses on both sides disappeared on examination of cranial nerves. The calf was finally diagnosed with Neospora caninum infection by pathological findings including nonsuppurative inflammation associated with cyst...