Transplacental Neospora caninum infection in dogs.
A Beagle bitch was inoculated SC and IM with 1.5 million Neospora caninum tachyzoites on the 35th day of gestation. Eight pups were born alive 28 days after N caninum inoculation of the bitch. Pup 1 did not breathe and died while still enclosed in fetal membranes. Pup 2 died 2 days after birth (DAB). Pups 3, 4, and 5 were euthanatized on 2, 3, and 20 DAB, respectively, because they were hypothermic and not nursing. Pups 6, 7, and 8 remained clinically normal. Indirect fluorescent N caninum serum antibody titers were: less than 50 (pups 1 and 8 at 17 DAB, and the bitch before inoculation), 50 (pups 2 and 3 on 2 DAB), 200 (pups 6 and 7 on 17 DAB), and 800 (bitch on day 17 after parturition). Neospora caninum was recovered in cultured cells inoculated with placenta and tissues from all 5 pups necropsied, and N caninum was seen in histologic sections of the heart of pup 5. Results indicate that N caninum can be transplacentally transmitted in dogs.
Dubey
J P
JP
Zoonotic Diseases Laboratory, USDA, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center-East, MD 20705.
Lindsay
D S
DS
D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000151:congenital* / Q000635:transmission; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D010920:Placenta / Q000469:parasitology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000662:veterinary; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000151:congenital / Q000635:transmission; D011529:Protozoan Infections, Animal