Neosporosis
The neosporosis is by the protozoa Neospora caninum caused infectious disease in domestic and wild animals. It occurs mainly in domestic dogs and can trigger a neurological disease in them, which manifests itself primarily as brain stem syndrome. When Domestic Cattle of pathogens triggers abortions from.
Pathogen
| Neospora caninum | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematics | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||
| Neospora caninum | ||||||||||
Neospora caninum is a protozoon and occurs worldwide. In its morphological forms and the reproduction cycle (with sporogony , schizogony and gamogony ) it is similar to Toxoplasma gondii , the causative agent of toxoplasmosis . Both pathogens can only be distinguished morphologically by means of an electron microscope. The two pathogens have only been differentiated as independent species since 1988. The main host and for a long time the only known final host for Neospora caninum is the dog (Latin canis = dog). However, recent studies show that wolf , dingo and coyote can also act as final hosts.
Infected dogs excrete a few unsporulated oocysts about 10 µm in size in the faeces . These sporulate in the outside world within 3 days and become infectious. These sporulated oocysts are ingested by intermediate hosts through food and water. Cattle , sheep , goats , horses etc. or even dogs themselves function as intermediate hosts . Tissue cysts about 0.1 mm in size form in the intermediate hosts. They arise mainly in the nerve tissue, less often in the muscles. From these tachyzoites and bradyzoites develop .
Dogs become infected by ingesting raw animal products (brain, meat). In the dog's intestine , the cysts are released during digestion and begin to multiply. Tachyzoites are found in the brain , spinal cord , pancreas , skeletal muscles , skin , liver and lungs . Cysts that arise solely from bradyzoites develop only in nerve tissue .
Neosporosis in the dog
Dogs are often infected in Europe, but the infection rarely causes disease, but is usually latent without clinical symptoms.
Clinical pictures
A serious illness manifests itself primarily as meningoencephalitis of the brain stem with the development of a brain stem syndrome ( protozoal meningoencephalitis ). This results in paralysis of the posterior cranial nerves (especially facial paralysis ), failure of the upper motor neuron ( tremor , ataxia , paresis ) and posture of the head ( torticollis ).
Other clinical pictures caused by Neosporosa caninum in dogs are polyneuritis , polymyositis , liver inflammation ( hepatitis ), pneumonia (pneumonia) and ulcerated dermatitis .
Diagnosis
In the cerebrospinal fluid - aspirate one can pleocytosis with eosinophils are detected.
The antibodies can be determined using immunofluorescence or ELISA , as can direct pathogen detection using PCR in the feces. However, this evidence only proves an infection; there does not have to be a causal relationship to the observed disease.
In the neurological form, a number of other brain stem infections such as distemper , rabies , Aujeszky's disease and toxoplasmosis as well as idiopathic granulomatous meningoencephalitis and poisoning must be excluded from the differential diagnosis ( see also VETAMIN D ).
therapy
Neosporosa caninum is sensitive to a number of antibiotics . Can be used clindamycin or combinations of pyrimethamine or trimethoprim with sulfonamides .
Neosporosis in cattle
In cattle, abortions caused by Neospora caninum play an economic role. They were first described in 1989.
If oocysts are ingested or if a latent infection breaks out in the mother, the pathogens can cross the placental barrier and lead to an infection of the fetal brain . Infection of the fetus can also occur during pregnancy . The fetuses can die and abortion can occur. In some regions of the United States, Neospora caninum is blamed for 45% of abortions and has therefore caused quite a stir.
The importance of Neospora caninum as a trigger for abortion in Europe has not yet been clarified. Due to the situation in the USA, there has recently been considerable unrest among cattle breeders in Europe as well. Above all, the running of dogs in pastures is viewed very critically by cattle breeders, but dogs hardly play a role in the transmission of the pathogen to cattle.
literature
- Andre Jaggy: Atlas and textbook of small animal neurology . Schlütersche 2005. ISBN 3-87706-739-5
Web links
- Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety: Neospora caninum: Abortion pathogen in cattle
- Friederich Löffler Institute: Neospora caninum working group with:
- Recording of the Neospora caninum seroprevalence in cattle-keeping holdings.
- Detection of Neospora caninum oocysts in naturally infected dogs.
- Risk assessment: cattle abortions by N. caninum: What are the dangers of dog feces on pastures?
Individual evidence
- Jump up ↑ JP Dubey, MC Jenkins, C. Rajendran, K. Miska, LR Ferreira, J. Martins, OC Kwok, S. Choudhary: Gray wolf (Canis lupus) is a natural definitive host for Neospora caninum. In: Veterinary parasitology. Volume 181, Number 2-4, September 2011, pp. 382-387, ISSN 1873-2550 . doi : 10.1016 / j.vetpar.2011.05.018 . PMID 21640485 .
- ↑ JS King, J. Slapeta, DJ Jenkins, SE Al-Qassab, JT Ellis, PA Windsor: Australian dingoes are definitive hosts of Neospora caninum. In: International journal for parasitology. Volume 40, Number 8, July 2010, pp. 945-950, ISSN 1879-0135 . doi : 10.1016 / j.ijpara.2010.01.008 . PMID 20149793 .
- ↑ Gondim, LFP; MM McAllister; WC Pitt; DE Zemlicka: Coyotes (Canis latrans) are definitive hosts of Neospora caniinum. In: International Journal for Parasitology 34 (2004): 159-161.
- ↑ Heinz Sager: Neospora caninum - a bogeyman? Swiss Association for Small Animal Medicine. on-line
