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Investigating the role of wild carnivores in the epidemiology of bovine neosporosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2012

PETER STUART ,
ANNETTA ZINTL ,
THEO DE WAAL ,
GRACE MULCAHY ,
CONALL HAWKINS  and
COLIN LAWTON
PETER STUART*
Affiliation:
Finnish Forest Research Institute, Suonejoki Research Unit, Finland
ANNETTA ZINTL
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
THEO DE WAAL
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
GRACE MULCAHY
Affiliation:
School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
CONALL HAWKINS
Affiliation:
Mammal Ecology Group, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
COLIN LAWTON
Affiliation:
Mammal Ecology Group, School of Natural Sciences, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland
*
*Corresponding author: Finnish Forest Research Institute, Suonejoki Research Unit, Finland. Tel: 00358 408015316. E-mail: peterdstuart@hotmail.com
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Summary

Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite, primarily associated with bovine abortion. The only definitive hosts discovered to date are carnivores. This study aimed to identify the role of mammalian carnivores in the epidemiology of bovine neosporosis. A sample bank of serum, fecal and brain samples was established: American mink (Mustela vison), red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), pine martens (Martes martes), badgers (Meles meles), stoats (Mustela erminea), otters (Lutra lutra) and feral ferrets (Mustela putorius). Approximately 1% of mink and 1% of fox samples were positive by IFAT. According to PCR analysis of DNA extracted from brain tissue, 3% of the mink, 4% of the otters and 6% of the foxes examined were infected with N. caninum. All fecal samples tested negative for N. caninum DNA (n = 311), suggesting that the species that tested positive were intermediate not definitive hosts. This is the first time that tissues from mustelids have tested positive for N. caninum. The need to test 2 relatively large (∼200 mg) targeted parts of the brain to avoid false negatives was also identified. The relatively low prevalence of N. caninum in Irish carnivores suggests that the local ecology of a species has an important influence on its epidemiological role.

Keywords

Neospora caninumwildlifecarnivoremustelid
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 140 , Issue 3 , March 2013 , pp. 296 - 302
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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