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Review
. 2003 Mar;41(1):1-16.
doi: 10.3347/kjp.2003.41.1.1.

Review of Neospora caninum and neosporosis in animals

J P Dubey  1
Affiliations
Review

Review of Neospora caninum and neosporosis in animals

J P Dubey. Korean J Parasitol. 2003 Mar.

Erratum in

  • Korean J Parasitol. 2003 Jun;41(2):138. Dubey, John P [corrected to Dubey, J P]

Abstract

Neospora caninum is a coccidian parasite of animals. It is a major pathogen for cattle and dogs and it occasionally causes clinical infections in horses, goats, sheep, and deer. Domestic dogs are the only known definitive hosts for N. caninum. It is one of the most efficiently transmitted parasite of cattle and up to 90% of cattle in some herds are infected. Transplacental transmission is considered the major route of transmission of N. caninum in cattle. Neospora caninum is a major cause of abortion in cattle in many countries. To elicit protective immunity against abortion in cows that already harbor a latent infection is a major problem. This paper reviews information on biology, diagnosis, epidemiology and control of neosporosis in animals.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Life cycle of Neospora caninum.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Neospora caninum stages in dogs. Bar = 20 µm and applies to all figures. (A) Tachyzoites in an impression smear of lung. Giemsa stain. Note individual organisms (arrowheads) and those dividing into 2 (arrows). Compare size with red blood cells (rbc) and a macrophage (mo). (B) Tachyzoites in groups (arrows) and individuals (arrowheads) in sections of skin. Immunohistochemical stain with anti-N. caninum antibody. (C) Tissue cyst in section of brain. Note thick tissue cyst wall (arrow) enclosing bradyzoites (arrows). Toluidine blue stain. (D) Unsporulated oocyst with an individual sporont (arrow). Unstained. (E) Sporulated oocyst (arrow). Unstained.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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