The prevalence of Neospora caninum and co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii by PCR analysis in naturally occurring mammal populations

The prevalence of Neospora caninum and co-infection with Toxoplasma gondii by PCR analysis in naturally occurring mammal populations

Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites associated with bovine and ovine abortion respectively. Little is known about the extent of Neospora/Toxoplasma co-infection in naturally infected populations of animals. Using nested PCR techniques, based o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasitology Vol. 132; no. Pt 1; p. 29
Main Authors: Hughes, J M, Williams, R H, Morley, E K, Cook, D A N, Terry, R S, Murphy, R G, Smith, J E, Hide, G
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England 01-01-2006
Subjects:
Abortion, Veterinary - parasitology
Animals
Animals, Newborn - parasitology
Base Sequence
Brain - parasitology
Cattle
Coccidiosis - complications
Coccidiosis - epidemiology
Coccidiosis - veterinary
Disease Reservoirs - veterinary
DNA, Protozoan - analysis
Mice
Molecular Sequence Data
Neospora - isolation & purification
Organ Specificity
Polymerase Chain Reaction - veterinary
Prevalence
Rats
Sequence Alignment
Sheep
Toxoplasma - isolation & purification
Toxoplasmosis, Animal - complications
Toxoplasmosis, Animal - epidemiology
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Summary:Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii are closely related intracellular protozoan parasites associated with bovine and ovine abortion respectively. Little is known about the extent of Neospora/Toxoplasma co-infection in naturally infected populations of animals. Using nested PCR techniques, based on primers from the Nc5 region of N. caninum and SAG1 for T. gondii, the prevalence of N. caninum and its co-infection with T. gondii were investigated in populations of Mus domesticus, Rattus norvegicus and aborted lambs (Ovis aries). A low frequency of infection with N. caninum was detected in the Mus domesticus (3%) and Rattus norvegicus (4.4%) populations. A relatively high frequency of infection with N. caninum was detected in the brains of aborted lambs (18.9%). There was no significant relationship between N. caninum and T. gondii co-infection. Investigation of the tissue distribution of Neospora, in aborted lambs, showed that Neospora could not be detected in tissues other than brain and this was in contrast to Toxoplasma where the parasite could be frequently detected in a range of tissues.
ISSN:0031-1820
DOI:10.1017/S0031182005008784