title: Isolation of viable Neospora caninum from brains of wild gray wolves (Canis lupus).
abstract: Neospora caninum is a common cause of abortion in cattle worldwide. Canids, including the dog and the dingo (Canis familiaris), the coyote (Canis latrans), and the gray wolf (Canis lupus) are its definitive hosts that can excrete environmentally resistant oocysts in the environment, but also can act as intermediate hosts, harboring tissue stages of the parasite. In an attempt to isolate viable N. caninum from tissues of naturally infected wolves, brain and heart tissue from 109 wolves from Minnesota were bioassayed in mice. Viable N. caninum (NcWolfMn1, NcWolfMn2) was isolated from the brains of two wolves by bioassays in interferon gamma gene knockout mice. DNA obtained from culture-derived N. caninum tachyzoites of the two isolates were analyzed by N. caninum-specific Nc5 polymerase chain reaction and confirmed diagnosis. This is the first report of isolation of N. caninum from tissues of any wild canid host.
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA. Electronic address: Jitender.dubey@ars.usda.gov.
authors: J P
authors: JP
authors: Dubey
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors: M C
authors: MC
authors: Jenkins
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors: L R
authors: LR
authors: Ferreira
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Choudhary
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors: S K
authors: SK
authors: Verma
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors: O C H
authors: OC
authors: Kwok
authors: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350, USA.
authors: R
authors: R
authors: Fetterer
authors: Division of Wildlife, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 5463-C West Broadway, Forest Lake, MN 55025, USA.
authors: E
authors: E
authors: Butler
authors: Division of Wildlife, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, 5463-C West Broadway, Forest Lake, MN 55025, USA.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Carstensen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology*; D001921:Brain / Q000469:parasitology; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000469:parasitology*; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008910:Minnesota; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018688:Neospora / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019596:Wolves / Q000469:parasitology*
keywords: Bioassay; Canis lupus; Gray wolf; Neospora caninum; PCR