• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Locations:
  • Canyon
  • Center
  • College Station
  • Gonzales
  • TVMDL Career Center
  • Contact Us

Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory

Apple App

download on the Apple App Store
download the app on Google Play

Search

Translate:

  • Find a Form
  • Deliver a Sample
    • Specimen Collection Information
    • Packaging Samples for Shipment
    • Drop Off a Sample
    • Cremation
    • Order Supplies
  • Client Portal
    • Get Test Results
    • SVA Portal
    • Pay a Bill
  • Become a Client
  • Resources
    • TVMDL Bovine Testing Guidance and Reference Material
    • Diagnostic Plans
      • Bovine Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
      • Equine Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
      • Small Ruminant Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
      • Small Animal Syndromic Diagnostic Plans
    • Education Library
    • Case Study Library
    • Electronic Reporting: QR Coding Process
    • CoreOne Resources
  • About Us
    • Locations and Hours
    • Agency Leadership
    • Speaker’s Bureau
    • Texas Pullorum-Typhoid Program
    • TVMDL Mobile app
    • Contact Us
  • Locations
    • College Station Laboratory
    • Canyon Laboratory
    • Center Laboratory
    • Gonzales Laboratory
  • Contact Us

Neospora caninum Abortion in Cattle

December 23, 2019 by Mallory Pfeifer

Neospora caninum Abortion in Cattle
Guy Sheppard, DVM

Neospora caninum is a protozoal organism that is associated with abortion in cattle and the birth of weak calves.  Dogs are the definitive hosts for this organism, and the organism is spread in the feces of infected dogs.  Cattle become infected by ingesting the organism in feedstuffs contaminated with infected dog feces, but vertical transmission from infected cows is also possible.

Abortions due to Neospora infection usually occur at 5-6 months of pregnancy, and they are more common in dairy cattle than beef cattle.  An ELISA test for serum antibodies is available, but the presence of antibodies does not necessarily incriminate the organism as the cause of an abortion.  Definitive diagnosis of Neospora abortion depends on evidence of the organism in the fetal tissue by histopathology and/or PCR testing.  The organism has an affinity for brain and heart tissue in the fetus, and these organs make the best specimens to use for diagnosis.

No vaccine is available against this disease, and prevention requires restricting dogs’ access to cattle feedstuffs.

For more information about TVMDL’s testing options for this disease and many others, visit tvmdl.tamu.edu or call 1.888.646.5623.

References 
Peek, Simon F., Neospora, Blackwell’s Five-Minute Veterinary Consult:  Ruminant; Scott R.R. Haskell, DVM, editor. 2008 pgs. 618-619.

Filed Under: Case Study Tagged With: bovine, college station, diagnostics, Molecular Diagnostics, TVMDL, Virology

Primary Sidebar

Latest Case Studies

  • Neurologic Disease due to Bovine Herpesvirus-5 (BHV-5) Infection in a 3-week-old Charolais mix calf

    February 27, 2023

  • Rare case of ocular onchocerciasis in a dog from south Texas

    January 25, 2023

  • Cerebrospinal Nematodiasis (Visceral Larval Migrans) in Birds

    September 13, 2022

  • Spironucleosis (Hexamitiasis) in Quail

    August 9, 2022

  • Endocarditis in a White-Tailed Deer Caused by Trueperella pyogenes

    August 9, 2022

Footer

For Employees

  • Employee Email
  • TVMDL Rules & Procedures
  • TVMDL Career Center
  • Emergency Alert Systems
  • AgriLife People Directory
  • AgriLife Administrative Services
  • TAMUS Single Sign On
  • Facebook

State of Texas

  • Texas.gov Portal
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Statewide Search
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Risk, Fraud, & Misconduct Hotline

Policies

  • Privacy and Security Policy
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Texas A&M AgriLife
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research

483 Agronomy Rd
College Station, TX 77843