Neospora caninum is an intracellular protozoan parasite associated with bovine and ovine abortion. Little is known about the extent of Neospora infection in infected populations of animals. This parasite is a worldwide apicomplexan protozoan with a variety of animal hosts. The earlier report of the parasite was described in 1984 in puppies with signs of encephalomyelitis and myositis. Neosporosis is considered a major cause of abortion in many cattle-producing countries. In sheep, the first infection with N. caninum was diagnosed in a congenitally infected lamb in England. This study aims to estimate the existence of Neospora caninum in aborted sheep in the Garmian region in Kurdistan/ Iraq. There is little information about the prevalence and existence of N. caninum in aborted animals in Kurdistan and Iraq by PCR and diagnosis is only done by serological methods. The Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR was used for the detection of Neospora caninum in the placenta tissues of aborted sheep from (89) aborted sheep in mating season 2021. The results of the study showed that 6 (6.7%) out of (89) fetal samples of ovine aborted fetuses by using PCR were positives. Our results suggest that the infection with N. caninum is existed and was detected in aborted fetuses. Furthermore, the study is the first one to identify N. caninum in this region and amended that this protozoan is one of the main causative agents of abortion via PCR technique.
Published Date: 2023-06-12; Received Date: 2023-04-04
