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Prevalence of Neospora caninum infection in Sardinian dairy farms (Italy) detected by iscom ELISA on tank bulk milk

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Abstract

Neospora caninum is a heteroxenous cyst-forming coccidian closely related to Toxoplasma gondii and is considered one of the major causes of abortions in cattle worldwide. The present work aims to update the epidemiological trend of N. caninum of dairy cattle in Sardinia island, Western Mediterranean (Italy). For this reason, we used the newest enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) methodology that exploits immune-stimulating complexes (iscoms) principle and allows us to point out the infection in the tank bulk milk too, besides the individual cattle. A total of 624 herds were sampled and tank bulk milk was submitted to iscom ELISA test. The analysis of the tank bulk milk samples revealed a total farm prevalence of 55% for N. caninum in Sardinia. In the provinces of Oristano and Cagliari the prevalences (64 and 65%, respectively) were significantly higher (p<0.01) than in Sassari and Nuoro (41 and 40%, respectively). The iscom Elisa test applied on tank bulk milk seems to be helpful and cost-effective for large epidemiological surveys, for monitoring control strategy plans for N. caninum, and for increasing the bio-safety level in dairy cattle farms.

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Acknowledgement

This research was carried out with the valuable assistance of Mr. M.S. Nieddu. The experiments of this research comply with the current laws of the country where they were performed (Italy).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Sezione di Parassitologia e Malattie Parassitarie Università degli Studi di Sassari, Via Vienna, 2-07100, Sassari, Italy

    A. Varcasia & A. Scala

  2. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie, Padova, Italy

    G. Capelli

  3. Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Oristano, Italy

    A. Ruiu & M. Ladu

  4. Department of Ruminant Medicine and Veterinary Epidemiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, P.O. Box 7019, SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

    C. Bjorkman

  5. Department of Parasitology (SWEPAR), National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden

    C. Bjorkman

Authors
  1. A. Varcasia
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  2. G. Capelli
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  3. A. Ruiu
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  4. M. Ladu
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  5. A. Scala
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  6. C. Bjorkman
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Correspondence to A. Varcasia.

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Varcasia, A., Capelli, G., Ruiu, A. et al. Prevalence of Neospora caninum infection in Sardinian dairy farms (Italy) detected by iscom ELISA on tank bulk milk. Parasitol Res 98, 264–267 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-0044-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-0044-4

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