Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: Neosporosis is a parasitary disease that affects \ndogs, cattle, sheep, goats, buffaloe, deer and \nhorses, caused by Neospora caninum, an \nintracellular protozoan. This parasite can infect \nwild and domestic canids, the ruminants and \nthe horses. Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and \ncoyotes (Canis latrans) are definitive hosts of \nthe protozoan, and this fact suggests that the \nagent can infect the cattle´s food with oocysts \neliminated by these animals in their feces. The \nvertical transmission is known as responsible for \nthe perpetuation of the infection within the herd, \nand this is why chronically infected cows transmit \nthe parasite to the fetus during the gestation \nas a consequence of the recrudescence of \nthe latent infection, which appears due to the \nimmunosupression caused by the gestation. \nAbortion is the only clinical sign oberved in \nadult cows, but living calves with the infection, \ncongenitally transmitted, can be found. They \nhave low weight when they are born and they \nalso show neurological signs, such as ataxia. The \nmost important effect of neospirosis in cattle is \nthe occurrence of abortions, with the economic \nloses they bring to producers. This is why the \nidentification of the risk factors involved in the \ninfection of cattle with Neospora caninum has \nimportant consequences in the development \nof strategies to control or prevent the disease, \nespecially when there are no treatments or \nvaccines available.
Language: Spanish
Subfield: Parasitology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1747319910