The first finding of Neospora caninum and the occurrence of other abortifacient agents in sheep in Slovakia.

Neosporosis is an infection of animals caused by an intracellular coccidian parasite, Neospora caninum, closely related to Toxoplasma gondii. The parasite is one of important abortifacient agents of bovine abortions worldwide. The aim of the study was to detect the prevalence of anti-Neospora antibodies in dairy aborting sheep from two eastern Slovak regions and to compare it with the occurrence of other potential abortifacient agents. Sera of 382 sheep, mainly the Improved Valachian and Merino breed, were tested for the presence of anti-Neospora and anti-Toxoplasma antibodies by ELISA, anti-Leptospira sp. by micro-agglutination-assay and anti-Chlamydophila antibodies using the complement fixation test. The mean seroprevalence of N. caninum was 3.7% and of T. gondii, 24.3%. This phenomenon of higher susceptibility of sheep to T. gondii is in the opposite of N. caninum infection in cattle. Anti-Leptospira antibodies were observed in 2.9% of serum samples with titres from 800 to 1600, whereas IgG antibodies against Chlamydophila abortus were found in 13.6% with titres from 64 to 1024. Half of N. caninum positive sera were simultaneously positive for T. gondii and one sample for C. abortus. From examined abortifacient agents the most important, from the frequency point of view, were toxoplasmosis (24.3%) and chlamydiosis (13.6%). No significant association between the frequencies of the abortions and mean seroprevalence of the abortifacient agents in Kosice region was determined. Likewise, no significant differences between the mean seroprevalence of neosporosis and toxoplasmosis in the two regions were detected. The first survey of neosporosis in aborting sheep from eastern Slovakia revealed a low prevalence resulting in a lower impact on reproduction losses in these small ruminants.