Neosporosis of animals

Authors: Dubey, Jitender; HEMPHILL, ANDREW - University Of Berne; CALERO-BERNAL, RAFAEL - Non ARS Employee; SCHARES, GEREON - Federal Research Institute

Submitted to: CRC Press
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/15/2016
Publication Date: 4/4/2017
Citation: Dubey, J.P., Hemphill, A., Calero-Bernal, R., Schares, G. 2017. Neosporosis of animals. Neosporosis in Animals. CRC Press: Boca Raton, Florida. 530 p.

Interpretive Summary: Toxoplasmosis continues to be a major public health concern. It is caused by a single celled parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. It can cause mental retardation in humans and abortion in livestock. Neospora is very similar parasite that was considered Toxoplasma until 1988 when a team of researchers headed by J.P. Dubey, ARS, Beltsville separated Neospora from Toxoplasma, named it, and cultivated in the laboratory. Neospora is now considered a common cause of abortion in cattle. In the present book on neosporosis the authors discuss diagnosis, and control of neosporosis. It is hoped that this book will be useful to biologists, veterinarians, and researchers.

Technical Abstract: In the 1980’s a neuromuscular syndrome of dogs simulating toxoplasmosis was recognized. In 1988, a new genus, Neospora, and the type species, Neospora caninum, were named, cultivated in vitro, and differentiated from Toxoplasma gondii. A year later, N. caninum was identified as an etiological agent for bovine abortions. Considerable progress in understanding the biology of neosporosis has been made in the last 30 years, resulting in more than 2000 scientific publications. The economic importance of abortion in cattle, and the availability of knowledge, reagents, and technology used to study toxoplasmosis, have contributed to the rapid progress in understanding the biology of neosporosis. Whole genome sequencing of N. caninum confirmed close similarities between N. caninum and T. gondii. However, these 2 protozoans are biologically different: N. caninum causes a major disease in cattle, and canids are its definitive hosts, whereas toxoplasmosis is a major public health problem and felids are its definitive host. Both parasites have wide host range. Here we summarize information on the biology of neosporosis, starting with a chapter 1 on the historical background. Subsequent chapters deal with general aspects of the biology of N. caninum (chapter 2), techniques (chapter 3), and the disease caused by this parasite in cattle(chapter 4), dogs (chapter 5), and all other animals including primates and humans (chapters 6-18). Abortion is a worldwide problem in livestock industry accounting for annual economical losses of billions of dollars, and N. caninum is a major cause of it. Neosporosis causes abortion in both dairy and beef cattle. Abortions not only occur in cattle that have been exposed recently but also in chronically infected cattle, which poses a major challenge for vaccine development. There is no effective vaccine or therapy to eliminate N. caninum in cattle, but progress is being made. In this book, we provide an up to date account of structure, biology, clinical disease, diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment, attempts at immunoprophylaxis, and control in all hosts. There are 175 illustrations on the life cycle, structure of parasitic stages, and of lesions. More than 1900 references are cited.