Epidemiological study of bovine neosporosis in Gyeonggi province

Neospora caninum (N caninum) is an intracellular protozoa parasite, and its infection is one of the important diseases because it can cause abortion in cattle. This study was conduct to gain epidemiological data for more effective control of the disease. Bloods were collected from 2,162 cattle on 90 farms from February to September 2006. Serums were tested for antibodies to N caninum using ELISA CherdCheck, IDEXX). The dairy breed presented a higher proportion of seropositive results than that of Hanwoo. The estimated proportion of N caninum-positive dairy farms was 71.1 %, but the overall seroprevalence was estimated as 22.8%. The seroprevalence of dairy cattle and Hanwoo were 31.0% and 4.9%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the seroprevalence by age, but the not-intensive managed farms had a high seroprevalence (OR=1.91, p-value<0.01). The antibody rate of cattle with dog(s) was greater than that of those without dogs (OR=2.13, p-value<0.01). There was a significant difference in abortion rate between seropositive cattle and seronegative ones (OR=6.2, p-value<0.01).