Survey of Neospora Caninum Antibody in Aborting Cattle from Three Climate Regions of Iran

Neospora caninum is an intracellular parasite which causes abortion in cattle worldwide. This descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted during 2009 to investigate the sero-prevalence of Neospora Caninum infection among Cattle from three climate zones of Iran. Female animals that had abortion history were sampled. Totally, 226 serum samples were collected from cattle herds living in Ardebil (46), Garmsar (84) and Babol (96) regions, representatives of three cold, warm and dry and mild temperate climate zones of Iran, respectively. Herd’s abortion history, age and gestation numbers were assessed by questionnaires. 1:100 serum dilutions were analyzed for Neospora caninum antibodies by commercially available ELISA kit. Optical absorbencies (OD) were above 0.5 was considered as positive for NC infection. R test, linear and logistic 2 regressions were also done. Seroprevalences of 7%, 45.2% and 57.3% were observed for cattle herds from Ardebil, Garmsar and Babol regions, respectively. Gestation number, abortion number and age of cattle had specific effects on Neospora caninum seroprevalence, so that, age group of 4 through 5 years with history of 1 abortion and gestation, had highest seroprevalences almost among all three main groups. Cold temperate climate region had significantly reduced rate of Neospora caninum seropositivity.