Woodbine, Kerry A., Medley, Graham, Moore, Stephen J., Ramírez Villaescusa, Ana, Mason, Sam (Sam A.) and Green, Laura E. (2008) A four year longitudinal sero-epidemiology study of Neospora caninum in adult cattle from 114 cattle herds in south west England : associations with age, herd and dam-offspring pairs. BMC Veterinary Research, Vol.4 (No.35). doi:10.1186/1746-6148-4-35 ISSN 1471-8219.

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Abstract

Background: Neosporosis caused by the protozoan parasite Neospora caninum, is an economically
important cause of abortion, stillbirth, low milk yield, reduced weight gain and premature culling in
cattle. Consequently, a seroepidemiological study of N. caninum antibodies was conducted in
England with 29,782 samples of blood taken from 15,736 cattle from 114 herds visited on three
occasions at yearly intervals. Herds were categorised into lower (< 10%) and higher (≥ 10%)
median herd seroprevalence. Hierarchical models were run to investigate associations between the
sample to positive (S/P) ratio and herd and cattle factors.
Results: Ninety-four percent of herds had at least one seropositive cow; 12.9% of adult cattle had
at least one seropositive test. Approximately 90% of herds were seropositive at all visits; 9 herds
(8%) changed serological status between visits. The median N. caninum seroprevalence in positive
herds was 10% (range 0.4% to 58.8%). There was a positive association between the serostatus of
offspring and dams that were ever seropositive. In the hierarchical model of low seroprevalence
herds there was no significant association between S/P ratio and cattle age. There was a significantly
lower S/P ratio in cattle in herds that were totally restocked after the foot-and-mouth epidemic of
2001 compared with those from continuously stocked herds and cattle purchased into these herds
had a higher S/P ratio than homebred cattle. In the model of high seroprevalence herds the S/P ratio
increased with cattle age, but was not associated with restocking or cattle origin.
Conclusion: There were no strong temporal changes in herd seroprevalence of N. caninum but
90% of herds had some seropositive cattle over this time period. Vertical transmission from
seropositive dams appeared to occur in all herds. In herds with a high seroprevalence the increasing
S/P ratio in 2–4 year old cattle is suggestive of exposure to N. caninum: horizontal transmission
between adult cattle, infection from a local source or recrudescence and abortions. Between-herd
movements of infected cattle enhance the spread of N. caninum, particularly into low
seroprevalence herds. Some restocked herds had little exposure to N. caninum, while in others
infection had spread in the time since restocking.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Life Sciences (2010- ) > Biological Sciences ( -2010)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Cattle -- Diseases -- Great Britain, Cattle -- Infections -- Great Britain
Journal or Publication Title:	BMC Veterinary Research
Publisher:	Biomed Central
ISSN:	1471-8219
Official Date:	15 December 2008
Dates:	Date Event 15 December 2008 Published
Volume:	Vol.4
Number:	No.35
DOI:	10.1186/1746-6148-4-35
Status:	Not Peer Reviewed
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

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