Sera antibodies to Neospora caninum in Chilean horses

Abstract

Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite that affects cattle and dogs, its infections seem to be widely prevalent in Chile. To date, nothing is known of the presence of N. caninum in horse population of the country. In South America, two seroprevalence studies have failed to find antibodies in Argentina and Brazil. The objective of the study was to investigate the presence of N. caninum exposure in horses of Chile. Sera from 145 asymptomatic horses (87 from IX Region and 58 from VII Region) were examined for antibodies to Neospora using the Neosporaagglutination test (NAT). Antibodies (≥ 1:40) to N. caninum were found in 47 (32%) of 145 horses. The results have been also tabulated by breed. This is the first report of presence of antibodies against Neospora in horses of Chile and South America. Although equine clinical neosporosis has not been reported other than from United States, a presuntive diagnosis of the disease should be taken into consideration when evaluating abortion and or Central Nervous System illness.