Comparative study for the detection of antibodies to Neospora caninum in milk and sera in dairy cattle in southern Romania

Acta Parasitol. 2014 Mar;59(1):5-10. doi: 10.2478/s11686-014-0202-x. Epub 2014 Feb 26.

Abstract

The study aimed to assess the within-herd Neospora caninum exposure in dairy cattle in southern Romania, based on the detection of specific antibodies in milk and serum. A total of 104 paired samples of milk and serum were collected from four dairy farms. Individual samples were analyzed for N. caninum antibodies by ELISA: IDEXX Neospora Ab (Idx) (three farms: A, B, C; n = 60) and ID-VET Lab (Idv) (farm D; n = 44). Additionally, four pooled milk samples, one per each farm (A, B, C) and a composed one (A+B+C), were analyzed with Idx ELISA. Optimized cut-off values for milk samples were determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, with serum results considered as true status. The agreement was expressed by K values. The overall seroprevalence of N. caninum infection was 45% in the farms tested by Idx ELISA and 56.8% in the farm tested by Idv ELISA. A good agreement between serum and milk was obtained for both ELISA kits (K = 0.72 and 0.77, respectively). The specificity and sensitivity at optimized cut-off of S/P>0.704 for Idx and S/P%>7.966% for Idv were 100% and 70.37% for Idx and 89.47% and 88% for Idv. Testing pooled milk samples, there were identified as N. caninum positive the dairy farms with a 15% or higher within-herd seroprevalence at the cut-off value of S/P>0.51. This is the first study in Romania in which milk samples were tested to determine the N. caninum infection status in dairy farms, providing a base for further researches.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Protozoan / analysis
  • Antibodies, Protozoan / blood*
  • Cattle
  • Cattle Diseases / epidemiology
  • Cattle Diseases / immunology
  • Cattle Diseases / parasitology*
  • Coccidiosis / blood
  • Coccidiosis / epidemiology
  • Coccidiosis / immunology
  • Coccidiosis / veterinary*
  • Female
  • Milk / chemistry*
  • Neospora / immunology*
  • Romania / epidemiology
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Antibodies, Protozoan