title: Seroprevalence of antibodies to Neospora caninum in dogs from Spain.
abstract: The prevalence of Neospora caninum antibodies was determined in sera of 139 dogs from Catalonia (northeastern Spain) using the indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Antibodies in the IFAT were found in 17 of 139 dogs (12.2%) with titers ranging from 1:50 to 1: 1,600. Seroprevalence was higher in dogs over 1 yr old compared with dogs younger than 1 yr (P < 0.05). No statistical difference was observed when sex, breed, purpose, or modus vivendi was compared with seropositivity. Most dogs had low antibody titers, which indicated subclinical infection in the area studied. No neosporosis-related disease was reported from any dog, although a German shepherd with an antibody titer of 1:800 showed pododermatitis. All sera were also screened using a commercial direct agglutination test (DAT). The DAT showed a similar specificity but a lower sensitivity when compared with IFAT as a reference technique.
authors.affiliation: Departamento Parasitologia y Enfermedades Parasitarias, Facultat de Veterinaria, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. ana.ortuno@uab.es
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ortuño
authors.forename: Joaquim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castellà
authors.forename: Sonia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Almería
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000662:veterinary; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D018688:Neospora / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012984:Software; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D007074:Immunoglobulin G