Abstract

Seropositividad a Neospora caninum en unidades de producción bovina del estado Lara, VenezuelaNeospora caninum seropositivity in cattle production units of Lara state, Venezuela. Zootecnia Trop. [online]. 2012, vol.30, n.1, pp.035-042. ISSN 0798-7269.

Bovine neosporosis caused by Neospora caninum, contributes together with other infectious agents to undermine the reproductive efficiency of cattle. In order to determine the seropositivity to N. caninum were processed 2542 samples from 124 farms dual purpose cattle, distributed in five municipalities (Simón Planas, Urdaneta, Torres, Crespo and Jiménez) Lara state. Seropositivity was detected by indirect ELISA immunoassay. The seropositivity (SP) general was 17.23%. Simón Planas municipality presented a significantly higher SP (26.11%) with respect to municipalities Crespo (9.88%), Torres (14.05%) and Urdaneta (14.39%), while Jiménez (20%) showed no statistical differences with the rest municipalities. In 91.94% of cattle farms were found positive for N. caninum, with ranges of SP ranging from 2.78 to 62.5%. Females showed a 17.69% of SP and males 13.39%, without significant differences between groups. Nor were any differences of SP by age group, with 20% for yearling calves, 17.06% for adults, 15.52% for heifers and 12.5% for calves. This suggests that in the herds studied, Neospora caninum infections are predominantly transmitted transplacentally. These results help to broaden the epidemiological studies on the geographic distribution of bovine neosporosis in Venezuela, and suggest strategic measures of control to reduce the impact of neosporosis might have on the reproductive efficiency of cattle herds.

Keywords : Neospora caninum; neosporosis; cattle; seropositivity.

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