ABSTRACT

This study was carried out in order to investigate the presence of Neospora caninum in cattle in the Elazığ, Malatya, Muş and Bingöl provinces from January 2003- May 2004. Blood samples were collected from 513 cattle and 32 aborting cows that were of various breeds and ages in all provinces. Sera were obtained from these animals and antibodies against N. caninum were investigated using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A commercially available competitive ELISA (cELISA) kit (VMRD, Inc., Veterinary Medical Research and Development, Pullman, WA, USA. Product Code 5NO5.20) was used to detect the N. caninum antibodies in the sera. Out of 513 cattle in the region, 36 (7.01 %) were found to be seropositive by cELISA. Seropositivity rates obtained by cELISA were 15.00% in Elazığ, 4.00% in Malatya, 4.86% in Muş and 4.69% in Bingöl. One of the 32 aborting cows (3.12 %) was found to be seropositive against N. caninum.

Keywords: Neospora caninum, cattle, eastern Anatolia