Epidemiology and Pathogenesis of Neospora caninum Infection: Special Emphasis to Neosporosis Status of Turkey

Abstract

Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite, first identified in dogs in 1988, having noteable similarities to Toxoplasma gondii in terms of biological and morphological features. Neosporosis, an important disease of mainly cattle and dogs, is one of the most prevalent infectious agents responsible for dairy and beef cattle abortions throughout the world. During the last two decades, abortion storms resulting from neosporosis have been increasingly reported from USA, Australia, Europe, Asia and Middle East countries including Turkey. The disease can cause milk yield loss, low fertility and abortions, particularly during the 5-6th months of the pregnancy. The incidence of abortion can be repeated in the subsequent pregnancies of the diseased animals and abortion rate can reach to 70% in a herd due to neosporosis. Subclinically persiste infected heifers can necessarily transmit the disease to their next progeny during their immediate pregnancy with a rate of up to 95%. Therefore, it is crucial to take cautious measures; e.g., prevention of direct dog-cattle interaction and elimination of seropositive animals from the herd, for the sake of successive herd management. There is still neither vaccine nor chemotherapeutic treatment protocol which could be effectively used in the field. In Turkey, there are several reports indicating that animals had come contact with N. caninum during some point in their lifespan. Seropositivity rates among some dairy cattle and dogs have been reported 4.8% to 32.7% and 10% to 28.9%, respectively. Although the role of neosporosis in epidemic and sporadic cattle abortions in some provinces has succesfully established, it is not still possible to achieve bird’s eye-view of neosporosis status in Turkey. Moreover, increasing numbers of publications appear in the literature, are declaring only seroprevalence data of neosporosis in local provinces.

Keywords

• Cattle,Dog,Epidemiolog,Neospora caninum,Neosporosis,Turkey

Neospora caninum Enfeksiyonunda Epidemiyoloji ve Patogenez: Türkiye’de Neosporozise Genel Bakış

Abstract

Neospora caninum ilk kez 1988 yılında köpeklerde tanımlanan, Toxoplasma gondii ile biyolojik ve yapısal olarak büyük benzerlikler gösteren bir protozoondur. Neosporozis, köpek ve sığırlarda en yaygın abort nedenleri arasında yeralır. Son yirmi yıldır, neosporozise bağlı abort salgınları Amerika, Avustralya, Avrupa, Asya ve Türkiye’nin de dahil olduğu Ortadoğu ülkelerinden artan sıklıkla bildirilmektedir. Hasta hayvanlarda, fertilite ve sütverimi kayıpları ile genelde gebeliğin 5 ve 6 ncı aylarında görülen abortlar dikkati çeker. Neosporozise bağlı abortlar, ineklerde takibeden gebeliklerde de şekillenebilir ve bir sürü içerisindeki abort oranı %70’lere kadar varabilmektedir. Bununla birlikte epidemiyolojik olarak esas problem subklinik persiste enfekte düvelerin, neosporozisi gelecek nesillere aktarmalarıdır. Anneden yavruya geçiş, %95 kadar yüksek bir oranda şekillenebilir ve başarılı bir sürü yönetimi için; köpek sığır ilişkisinin önlenmesi, damızlık adayı seropozitif hayvanların sürüden ayıklanması gereklidir. Süt sığırlarında neosporozisin kontrolüne yönelik henüz pratikte uygulanabilir aşı ya da ilaçla tedavi yöntemi bulunmamaktadır. Türkiye’de, hayvanların hayatlarının bir döneminde parazitle temas ettiklerine dair çok sayıda serolojik çalışma sonucu bulunmakta ve seroprevalans süt sığırlarında %4.8 ile %32.7, köpeklerde ise %10 ile %28.9 arasında değişmektedir. Türkiye’nin bazı coğrafi bölgeleri için, neosporozisin epidemik ve sporadik sığır abortlarındaki rolü başarıyla ortaya konulmasına karşın, mevcut durumda Türkiye’de N. caninum enfeksiyonlarının genel bir fotoğrafının çekilmesi mümkün görünmemektedir. Üstelik, literatürde artan bir hızla yerini alan Türkiye kaynaklı makalelerin büyük bir çoğunluğu, yalnız yerel bölgeleri temsil eden ve sınırlı sayıda hayvanın dahil edildiği serolojik analiz sonuçlarını içermektedir.

Keywords

• Epidemiyoloj,Köpek,Neospora caninum,Neosporozis,Sığır,Türkiye

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