Kul Oğuz, Kabakci Nalan, Yildiz Kader, Ocal Naci, Kalender Hakan, Ilkme N Aycan
Department of Pathology, Kirikkale University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 71451 Yahsihan, Kirikkale, Turkiye.
Vet Parasitol. 2009 Jan 22;159(1):69-72. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2008.10.019. Epub 2008 Oct 15.
Neospora caninum, a protozoan parasite, has been considered as one of the most important etiological agents responsible for abortion in dairy cattle throughout the world since it was first identified in dogs in 1988. In this report, characteristics of neosporosis, detected in a dairy cow ranch having epidemic abortions as high as 18.4%, were described. Blood samples were collected from 25 infertile or aborted dairy cattle, 6 calves born in 2006 and 40 heifers that were born in 2005 and raised in the same ranch. Necropsy was conducted in a 20-day-old Simmental calf that exhibited neurological signs including incoordination, head shaking, hyperextension in forelimbs and hindlimbs and tremor. The seroprevalance in aborted or infertile dairy cattle, heifers, and calves was 60%, 40%, and 33.3%, respectively. The mothers of seropositive two calves including clinically affected calf and its dam were N. caninum seropositive. In immunoperoxidase examinations, N. caninum antigen immunopositivity was observed in the degenerative and necrotic neurons in the brain, cerebellum as well as neurons in dorsal root ganglia of the cervical and thoracic regions of the spinal cord. In the heart, myocytes and Purkinje cells exhibited granular and linear patterns of immunoreactivity. Striated myofibers around the eyeball also showed immunolocalization for N. caninum antigen. Ultrastructurally, tachyzoites with typical apical complex, rhoptries and double-layered parasitic membrane were detected in the brain and heart sections. In conclusion, this report described clinical neosporosis for the first time in Turkey with tissue localization of the causative agents. This scientific communication also discusses the possible impact of cattle neosporosis by clinical, serologic and pathologic evidences collected from the survey of calves born in two successive generations in a ranch.
犬新孢子虫是一种原生动物寄生虫，自1988年在犬类中首次被发现以来，一直被认为是导致全球奶牛流产的最重要病原体之一。在本报告中，描述了在一个流产率高达18.4%的奶牛场中检测到的新孢子虫病的特征。从25头不育或流产的奶牛、6头2006年出生的犊牛以及40头2005年出生并在同一牧场饲养的小母牛中采集了血样。对一头20日龄的西门塔尔犊牛进行了尸检，该犊牛表现出神经症状，包括共济失调、摇头、前肢和后肢过度伸展以及震颤。流产或不育奶牛、小母牛和犊牛的血清阳性率分别为60%、40%和33.3%。两只血清阳性犊牛（包括临床患病犊牛及其母亲）的母亲均为犬新孢子虫血清阳性。在免疫过氧化物酶检查中，在大脑、小脑的变性和坏死神经元以及脊髓颈段和胸段背根神经节的神经元中观察到犬新孢子虫抗原免疫阳性。在心脏中，心肌细胞和浦肯野细胞呈现颗粒状和线性免疫反应模式。眼球周围的横纹肌纤维也显示出犬新孢子虫抗原的免疫定位。在超微结构上，在大脑和心脏切片中检测到具有典型顶复合器、棒状体和双层寄生膜的速殖子。总之，本报告首次在土耳其描述了临床新孢子虫病及其病原体的组织定位。本科学交流还通过从一个牧场连续两代出生的犊牛调查中收集的临床、血清学和病理学证据，讨论了牛新孢子虫病可能产生的影响。
