Species: Bovine

Specimen: Fresh brain (including from mummified fetus) and/or stomach contents from aborted fetus

Container: Sterile container

Collection protocol: Necropsy

Special handling/shipping requirements: Standard

General information about the disease:

Neospora caninum, is an apicomplexan protozoan parasite infection that may cause abortions. These events may take the form of sporadic or low-level endemic occurrences of abortion, or be of epidemic, “storm-like” proportions. These abortion storms, in particular, can affect large proportions of the at-risk (i.e. in-calf) cow population and cause large economic losses.

General information about when this test is indicated:

The PCR is most suitable for abortion investigations to detect N. caninum DNA in the brain or stomach contents of an aborted fetus. This test has not been used to see if the organism is present (transiently) in the blood of animals in the early stages of infection.

Comparison with other related tests:

Use the PCR result in combination with IFAT and the clinical signs for investigating the Neospora status of individual animals.  The IFAT is the most appropriate assay for individual abortion diagnoses in the dam, as titres are elevated around the time of abortion and then quickly decline within a matter of weeks.  In the dam, an IFAT titre of ≥1/600 is indicative of an association between the abortion and Neospora infection. For investigation of reproductive disease in groups use the Neospora ELISA.