Neospora caninum in cattle slaughter in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas, Brazil

Bovine neosporosis is an infectious disease caused by Neospora caninum, obligate intracellular parasite, and is considered a major cause of abortion in cattle in various countries. The objective was to study the occurrence of N. caninum in cows and fetuses in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas, Brazil. We collected 306 blood serum samples from slaughtered cows and 30 fetuses in the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas. For serological diagnosis, we used the technique of immunofluorescence reaction (RIFI) with a cutoff 1: 200 for sera of cows and fetal sera used cutoff 1: 25 parasitic DNA research, we used tissue fetal submitted to the technique of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Serological assays, we observed 39/306(12.6%) of the positive cows and 5/30 (16.7%) of positive fetuses. To detect the parasite 8/30 (26.6%) of fetuses were PCR positive. The results of this study as the presence of parasites in fetuses are unprecedented for this region and allow us to conclude that this agent should be included in the study of causes of bovine abortion in this region of Brazil.