Epidemiology of Neospora caninum Infection in Oklahoma Beef and Dairy Cattle

Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite that is closely related to Toxoplasma gondii and is considered to be an important cause of abortion in cattle, especially dairy cattle. Infection with this parasite may also cause decreased milk production and increased risk of culling for dairy cattle. The complete life cycle of this organism is not known. Two studies were conducted to provide epidemiological information about N. caninum infection in Oklahoma cattle. The presence of specific N. caninum antibodies in sampled cattle sera was determined by using an ELISA test kit. Reported relative operating characteristics for this test were 98.6% sensitivity and 98.9% specificity using a 0.5 sample to positive (SIP) ratio as the assay cutoff to distinguish positive from negative samples.