title: Low prevalence of Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in dogs in Jilin, Henan and Anhui Provinces of the People's Republic of China.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii are important pathogens of worldwide distribution. N. caninum is a major cause of abortion in cattle and dogs are main reservoirs because they excrete the environmentally resistant oocysts. Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide zoonosis and dogs are considered as sentinels for this parasite because of their close contact with people and cats; additionally dog meat is also used for human consumption in China. The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii infection in dogs from China. A total of 425 countryside dog hearts in Jilin, Henan and Anhui provinces of the People's Republic of China were collected from slaughter houses in two batches; the first batch of 96 in October 2013, and the second batch of 329 in April 2014. Serum samples extracted from 96 dog hearts were tested for antibodies to N. caninum and from 425 dog hearts were tested for T. gondii antibodies in the modified agglutination tests (cut-off 1:25 for both), using respective antigens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Antibodies to N. caninum were 6 of 96 (6.25%) of dogs with titers of 1:25 in 2, 1:50 in 3, and 1:100 in 1. All seropositive dogs were more than 1 year old. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 35 of 425 (8.24%) dogs with titers of 1:25 in 15, 1:50 in 14; and 1:100 in 6.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study indicated low prevalence of N. caninum and T. gondii antibodies in dogs of China, compared with Europe and America. Identification of the risk factors that underlie these differences may help prevention of neosporosis and toxoplasmosis. This is the first report of N. caninum infection in dogs from China.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agriculture University, Zhengzhou, 450002, PR China. yangyu7712@sina.com.|United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA. yangyu7712@sina.com.
authors.forename: Yurong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agriculture University, Zhengzhou, 450002, PR China. 1228601001@qq.com.
authors.forename: Qiongfang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agriculture University, Zhengzhou, 450002, PR China. 851269373@qq.com.
authors.forename: Yangguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA. yingyuqing@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ying
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA. Kwok@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Oliver Chun Hung
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Kwok
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Pathology, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agriculture University, Zhengzhou, 450002, PR China. hdliang12@163.com.
authors.forename: Hongde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory, Beltsville, MD, 20705-2350, USA. Jitender.Dubey@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: Jitender Prakash
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Dubey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology; D004285:Dogs / Q000523:psychology; D018688:Neospora / Q000276:immunology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan