Williams D J L, Trees A J
Veterinary Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Pembroke Place, Liverpool, UK.
Parasite Immunol. 2006 Mar;28(3):61-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3024.2005.00809.x.
Neospora caninum is an apicomplexan protozoan parasite that is a significant infectious abortifacient agent in cattle. Despite the fact that it is a member of a well described taxonomic group, it is a relatively newly discovered parasite and its biology is not yet fully understood. Cattle become infected either congenitally via transplacental transmission or post-natally by ingesting oocysts derived from the definitive host; dogs and coyotes are the only definitive hosts that have been described to date. It is not known which of these two forms of transmission occurs most frequently and which is the most likely to result in abortion; there are no drugs available to treat infected cattle, so current control strategies rely on prevention of infection by management methods and strict hygiene; an effective vaccine would be a great advantage in its control. Neospora caninum is an economically important veterinary pathogen, but we can also draw analogies between its foetopathic effects and those of human pathogens such as Toxoplasma gondii, Chlamydophila abortus and Plasmodium falciparum. Understanding the immune response and the materno-foetal relationship in N. caninum-infected cattle may help us to design vaccination strategies, not only for neosporosis but also for other foetopathic agents.
犬新孢子虫是一种顶复门原生动物寄生虫，是牛群中一种重要的传染性流产病原体。尽管它是一个分类明确的类群中的成员，但它是一种相对较新发现的寄生虫，其生物学特性尚未完全了解。牛通过经胎盘传播先天性感染，或在出生后通过摄入来自终末宿主的卵囊而感染；狗和郊狼是迄今为止已被描述的仅有的终末宿主。目前尚不清楚这两种传播方式中哪种最常见，哪种最有可能导致流产；目前没有药物可用于治疗感染的牛，因此当前的控制策略依赖于通过管理方法和严格的卫生措施来预防感染；有效的疫苗对其控制将具有很大优势。犬新孢子虫是一种具有重要经济意义的兽医病原体，但我们也可以将其对胎儿的致病作用与人类病原体如弓形虫、流产嗜衣原体和恶性疟原虫的致病作用进行类比。了解感染犬新孢子虫的牛的免疫反应和母胎关系，可能有助于我们设计疫苗接种策略，不仅用于新孢子虫病，也用于其他导致胎儿病变的病原体。
