Neospora

[Inger]

Can anyone give me any up to date information on the transmission of this disease? I read on the internet that it can only be passed on from cow to calf, in-utero, but that is wrong, as I had a case where a previously non-infected bull, became infected by a bull calf that was kept in his paddock for company. I had the bull retested when the calf was tested, a few months after we bought the bull calf onto the property. So obviously Neospora can be passed from bull to bull contact.

They tested at quite low levels of infection and I was advised, that since all our bulls have tested negative for BVD (and were innoculated against BVD, if they didn't have any antibodies), that we shouldn't have any health problems in our herd.

We've only had one premature still-born bull calf and the heifer who produced it, was later put down for another reason. The heifer's mother was bought in from another herd and had a premature bull calf, before producing the heifer. So I'm thinking that she brought Neospora with her, but other than that, there seems to be no on-going problems with having a low level of Neospora infection on our property. Our dogs have also been tested negative for Neospora. So they're not contributing to the situation.

I would like to know if there is a vaccination being developed for the disease, or if I really shouldn't worry about it. It would be nice to have the bulls treated, as they are leased out periodically, but I've been told that the only treatment is very expensive and not worth it, as the disease doesn't impact sufficently to be enconomical. I would still like to do something about it though.

Any suggestions?

[pudser]

Hi Inger,
To my knowledge the only method of transmission is in utero (vertical) or from dogs .Infection in a bull is of no significance as Neospora seem to have a predilection for the ovaries and thus the repeats abortions etc.
I suggest retesting the bull for ease of mind but it is of no veterinary significance.

Cheers

Paddy

[Inger]

That's what I read on the internet as well. But it's a fact that the older bull tested clear of Neospora when we bought him and a year later, after spending some months with an infected bull calf, he then tested positive for his second blood test, which I had collected at the same time as a blood sample was taken from the bull calf. The tests were done by the same laboratory.

This leads me to think that transmission isn't only by cow to unborn calf. It looks to be possible via saliva / urine transmision as well. The two bulls spent a lot of time close to each other. We had no carrier dogs on the property.

So I don't think that the full picture has been disclosed yet. I don't know if any research is being done on the disease, but I would feel more confident if I knew the full story about the disease.