FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Tropical animal health and production2025; 57(5); 236; doi: 10.1007/s11250-025-04496-3

Seroprevalence of Neospora spp. in horses reared in rural and urban areas in southern Brazil.

Abstract: Protozoan Neospora spp. is known to negatively affect horses reared in rural and urban environments, being studied for causing abortion, neonatal mortality and central nervous system disorders in horses. This study aimed to verify the occurrence of anti-Neospora spp. antibodies in horses bred in rural and urban areas from southern Brazil and the risk factors associated with infection. The study consisted of 400 horses, which 241 were bred in rural areas and 159 in urban areas. The detection of serum anti-Neospora spp. antibodies was determined using Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). The epidemiological questionnaire was applied to owners to determine the factors associated with the infection. The total seropositivity of the animals was 11% (43/400, 95% CI = 7,71-13,78%), distributed into 10% (24/241, 95% CI = 6,18-13,74%) in the rural and 12% (19/159, 95% CI = 6,91 - 16,99%) in the urban group (serum titer ≥ 50). There was no significant difference between rural and urban groups (p = 0.642; OD = 1.31; 95% CI = 0.663-2.58). Stallions and geldings in the rural group were four times more predisposed to presenting anti-Neospora spp. antibodies (p = 0.028; OR = 4.36; 95% CI = 1.164; 14.000). In conclusion, the breeding area is not correlated with seropositivity for Neospora spp. and stallions and geldings raised in rural environments from southern Brazil are more predisposed to infection. There are still poorly elucidated aspects of the infection by Neospora spp. in horses of different sexes, reared in different breeding environments that deserve our concern and require further studies.
© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2025-05-30 PubMed ID: 40445516PubMed Central: 2717477DOI: 10.1007/s11250-025-04496-3Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research article explores the prevalence of the protozoan parasite ‘Neospora spp.’ amongst horses bred in both rural and urban areas within Southern Brazil, along with associated risk factors for infection. The study found an overall seropositivity rate of 11% amongst tested horses, with no significant difference found between rural and urban groups. However, it did find a higher predisposition to infection amongst stallions and geldings raised in rural environments.

Objective and Method

  • The objective of this study was to investigate the occurrence of antibodies against the parasite Neospora spp., known for causing various health problems in horses, amongst horses bred in rural and urban environments of Southern Brazil.
  • For this purpose, the researchers collected data from 400 horses—241 from rural and 159 from urban areas.
  • They tested the serum of these horses using the Immunofluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) to determine if they had developed antibodies against Neospora spp., which would indicate exposure to the parasite.
  • The researchers also conducted an epidemiological survey, engaging with the horse owners to determine associated risk factors for Neospora spp. infection.

Findings

  • The total seropositivity, or percentage of horses that tested positive for the anti-Neospora antibodies, was found to be 11% (43 out of 400 horses).
  • The seropositivity was distributed as 10% in the rural group (24 out of 241 horses) and 12% in the urban group (19 out of 159 horses).
  • Statistical analysis of these results demonstrated that there was no significant difference in seropositivity between rural and urban horses (p=0.642).
  • Nonetheless, the study found that stallions and geldings (castrated male horses) reared in the rural environment showed a four times higher predisposition to have anti-Neospora spp. antibodies, indicating a significantly higher risk of infection (p=0.028).

Conclusion

  • Contrary to conventional beliefs, the breeding area (rural or urban) was not significantly correlated with seropositivity for Neospora spp.
  • It was found that the sex and reproductive status of horses, specifically stallions and geldings in rural areas, might play a crucial role in the susceptibility to infection.
  • However, the researchers conclude that there are aspects of Neospora spp. infection in horses, particularly in relation to genders and breeding environments, which are still unclear and warrant further study.

Cite This Article

APA
Granella MCS, Mendes RP, da Silva Casa M, Ribeiro GSN, Sangioni LA, Vogel FSF, Braünig P, Ferian PE, Salbego FZ, Schwarz DGG, Fonteque JH. (2025). Seroprevalence of Neospora spp. in horses reared in rural and urban areas in southern Brazil. Trop Anim Health Prod, 57(5), 236. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-025-04496-3

Publication

Tropical animal health and production
ISSN: 1573-7438
NlmUniqueID: 1277355
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 57
Issue: 5
Pages: 236

Researcher Affiliations

Granella, Milena Carol Sbrussi
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Mendes, Rubens Peres
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
da Silva Casa, Mariana
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Ribeiro, Gianlucca Simão Nadal
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Sangioni, Luis Antônio
  • Santa Maria Federal University, Santa Maria, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.
Vogel, Fernanda Silveira Flores
  • Santa Maria Federal University, Santa Maria, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.
Braünig, Patrícia
  • Santa Maria Federal University, Santa Maria, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.
Ferian, Paulo Eduardo
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Salbego, Fabiano Zanini
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Schwarz, David Germano Gonçalves
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Fonteque, Joandes Henrique
  • Santa Catarina State University, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brazil. joandes.fonteque@udesc.br.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Horses
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Horse Diseases / epidemiology
  • Horse Diseases / parasitology
  • Neospora / isolation & purification
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Female
  • Male
  • Coccidiosis / veterinary
  • Coccidiosis / epidemiology
  • Coccidiosis / parasitology
  • Risk Factors
  • Antibodies, Protozoan / blood
  • Rural Population
  • Urban Population

Grant Funding

  • FAPESC - EDITAL DE CHAMADA Pu00daBLICA FAPESC Nu00ba 04/2018 APOIO u00c0 INFRAESTRUTURA PARA GRUPOS DE PESQUISA DA UDESC - 2019TR608 / Fundau00e7u00e3o de Amparo u00e0 Pesquisa e Inovau00e7u00e3o do Estado de Santa Catarina

Conflict of Interest Statement

Declarations. Ethics approval: This study was approved by the Ethics and Animal Experimentation Committee (Comitê de Ética e Experimentação Animal – CETEA) of the Center for Agroveterinary Sciences (Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias—CAV) of the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), protocol nº 1.09.15, and by the Ethics in Human Research Committee (Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa com Seres Humanos—CEPSH), protocol nº CAAE 47416615.0.0000.0118. All animals included in this study were used under informed consent from their respective owners and caretakers, agreeing with publishing of the resulting data. Conflict of interests: The author(s) declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, funding and/or publication of this article.

References

This article includes 24 references
  1. Antonello AM, Pivoto FL, Camillo G, Braunig P, Sangioni LA, Pompermayer E, Vogel FSF. The importance of vertical transmission of Neospora sp. in naturally infected horses. Vet Parasitol 187:367–370.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2012.02.005pubmed: 22436425google scholar: lookup
  2. Araújo Valença SRF, Valença RMB, Pinheiro Junior JW, de Albuquerque PPF, Souza Neto OL, Mota RA. Risk factors for occurrence of anti-neospora spp. antibodies in horses from Alagoas. Brazil J Equine Vet Sci 35:917–921.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2015.08.014google scholar: lookup
  3. Bártová E, Sedlák K, Kobédová K, Budíková M, Joel Atuman Y, Kamani J. Seroprevalence and risk factors of Neospora spp. and Toxoplasma gondii infections among horses and donkeys in Nigeria, West Africa. Acta Parasitol 62:606–609.
    doi: 10.1515/ap-2017-0073pubmed: 28682771google scholar: lookup
  4. Borges AMCM, Yeargan MR, Silva LG, Taques ÍIGG, Howe D, Aguiar DM. Antibodies Against Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora spp., and Toxoplasma gondii in Horses and Mules From the Northern Pantanal Wetland of Brazil. J Equine Vet Sci 56:19–25.
    doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2017.04.007google scholar: lookup
  5. Cazarotto CJ, Balzan A, Grosskopf RK, Boito JP, Portella LP, Vogel FF, Fávero JF, Cucco DDC, Biazus AH, Machado G, Da Silva AS. Horses seropositive for Toxoplasma gondii, Sarcocystis spp. and Neospora spp.: possible risk factors for infection in Brazil. Microb Pathog 99:30–35.
    doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2016.07.016pubmed: 27475033google scholar: lookup
  6. Cerqueira-Cézar CK, Calero-Bernal R, Dubey JP, Gennari SM. All about neosporosis in Brazil Tudo sobre neosporose no Brasil. Electron Braz J Vet Parasitol 26:253–279.
    doi: 10.1590/s1984-29612017045google scholar: lookup
  7. Da Cunha Filho NA, Lucas ADS, Pappen FG, Ragozo AMA, Gennari SM, Junior TL, Farias NADR. Risk factors and prevalence of antibodies anti-Neospora caninum in urban and rural dogs from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 17(Suppl 1):301–306.
    pubmed: 20059865
  8. Dangoudoubiyam S, Oliveira JB, Víquez C, Gómez-García A, González O, Romero JJ, Kwok OCH, Dubey JP, Howe DK. Detection of antibodies against Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora spp., and Toxoplasma gondii in horses from Costa Rica. J Parasitol 97:522–524.
    doi: 10.1645/GE-2722.1pubmed: 21506839google scholar: lookup
  9. de Moura AB, da Silva MO, Farias JA, Vieira-Neto A, de Souza AP, Sartor AA, Fonteque JH, Bunn S. Neospora spp. antibodies in horses from two geographical regions of the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil. Rev Bras Parasitol Veterinária 22:597–601.
    doi: 10.1590/s1984-29612013000400023google scholar: lookup
  10. Dubey JP. Review of Neospora caninum and neosporosis in animals. Korean J Parasitol 41:1–16.
    doi: 10.3347/kjp.2003.41.1.1pubmed: 12666725pmc: 2717477google scholar: lookup
  11. Dubey JP, Schares G. Neosporosis in animals-the last five years. Vet Parasitol 180:90–108.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2011.05.031pubmed: 21704458google scholar: lookup
  12. Dubey JP, Hemphill A, Calero-Bernal R, Schares G. Neosporosis in animals. CRC Press .
    doi: 10.1201/9781315152561google scholar: lookup
  13. Finno CJ, Aleman M, Pusterla N. Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis associated with neosporosis in 3 horses. J Vet Intern Med 21:1405–1408.
    doi: 10.1892/07-054.1pubmed: 18196754google scholar: lookup
  14. Gao X, Wang H. Seroprevalence and risk factors for Neospora caninum infection in dogs in rural northeastern mainland China. Parasite 26:32.
    doi: 10.1051/parasite/2019034pubmed: 31145075pmc: 6542294google scholar: lookup
  15. Hoane JS, Gennari SM, Dubey JP, Ribeiro MG, Borges AS, Yai LEO, Aguiar DM, Cavalcante GT, Bonesi GL, Howe DK. Prevalence of Sarcocystis neurona and Neospora spp. infection in horses from Brazil based on presence of serum antibodies to parasite surface antigen. Vet Parasitol 136:155–159.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2005.10.023pubmed: 16310955google scholar: lookup
  16. Javanmardi E, Majidiani H, Shariatzadeh SA, Anvari D, Shamsinia S, Ghasemi E, Kordi B, Shams M, Asghari A. Global seroprevalence of Neospora spp. in horses and donkeys: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Vet Parasitol 288:109299.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2020.109299pubmed: 33227673google scholar: lookup
  17. Kligler EB, Shkap V, Baneth G, Mildenberg Z, Steinman A. Seroprevalence of Neospora spp. among asymptomatic horses, aborted mares and horses demonstrating neurological signs in Israel. Vet Parasitol 148:109–113.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2007.06.002pubmed: 17614202google scholar: lookup
  18. Kormann DCSH, Locatelli-Dittrich R, Richartz RRTB, Antunes J, Dittrich JR, Patrício LFL. Soroprevalência e cinética mensal de anticorpos anti-Neospora sp. em éguas gestantes. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 17(Suppl 1):335–338.
    pubmed: 20059873
  19. Pitel PH, Romand S, Pronost S, Foucher N, Gargala G, Maillard K, Thulliez P, Collobert-Laugier C, Tainturier D, Fortier G, Ballet JJ. Investigation of Neospora sp. antibodies in aborted mares from Normandy, France. Vet Parasitol 118:1–6.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2003.10.007pubmed: 14651869google scholar: lookup
  20. Sangioni LA, de Avila Botton S, Cargnelutti JF, Cadore GC, Cezar AS, Weiblen R, Lopes STA, Vogel FSF. Pesquisa de anticorpos anti-neospora spp. E anti-herpersvírus equino em cavalos de tração no município de santa maria, rs, brasil. Cienc Rural 41:321–323.
    doi: 10.1590/S0103-84782011000200023google scholar: lookup
  21. Thrusfield M. Veterinary epidemiology, 3rd edn. Blackwell Science Ltd pp 230–238.
  22. Toscan G, Vogel FSF, Cadore GC, Cezar AS, Sangioni LA, Pereira RCF, Oliveira LSS, Lopes STA. Occurrence of antibodies anti-Neospora spp. in cart horses and Crioula breed horses from Rio Grande do Sul state. Arq Bras Med Vet Zootec 63:258–261.
    doi: 10.1590/S0102-09352011000100038google scholar: lookup
  23. Villalobos EMC, Ueno TEH, de Souza SLP, Cunha EMS, de Souza MDCC, Lara H, Gennari SM, Soares RM. Association between the presence of serum antibodies against Neospora spp. and fetal loss in equines. Vet Parasitol 142:372–375.
    doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2006.07.016pubmed: 16962708google scholar: lookup
  24. Villalobos EMC, Furman KE, Lara MDCCDSH, Cunha EMS, Finger MA, Busch APB, Barros Filho IRD, Deconto I, Dornbusch PT, Biondo AW. Detection of Neospora sp. antibodies in cart horses from urban areas of Curitiba, Southern Brazil. Rev Bras Parasitol Vet 21:68–70.
    doi: 10.1590/s1984-29612012000100014pubmed: 22534949google scholar: lookup

Citations

This article has been cited 0 times.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Join 99,824 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.