Estimating the rate of transplacental transmission of Neospora caninum to aborted fetuses in seropositive dams in Mashhad area, Iran

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan protozoa,<br />which causes abortion in cattle worldwide. OBJECTIVES:<br />The present study was designed to estimate the rate of<br />transplacental transmission of N.caninum to aborted fetuses in<br />seropositive dams in dairy farms in Mashhad area, Iran.<br />METHODS: Two hundred blood samples of dam with aborted<br />bovine fetuses were collected from dairy farms from 2008 to<br />2010. First , the maternal sera in each aborted case were tested by<br />using ELISA method, and then the brain samples of aborted<br />fetuses were examined for detecting DNA of N. caninum, using<br />the PCR method. RESULTS: In this study, 38 (19%) of dams' sera<br />showed seropositive reaction against N.caninum infection, and<br />also 23 (10.5%) aborted brain fetuses showed positive reaction<br />by PCR. A significant association was observed between<br />N.caninum-serapositie dams and infected aborted fetuses<br />(p<0.0001). In the present study, 20 (86%) infected fetuses were<br />aborted from seropositive, and 3 (13%) of the fetuses were<br />aborted from seronegative dams. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the<br />results of molecular and serology examination, the rate of<br />transplacental transmission of N. caninum infection in dairy<br />cattle were calculated as 52%.