Table 2.
Prevalence of antibodies against N. caninum in sheep in Europe.
| Country | Region | Test (source) | n positive animals/ n examined animals |
% positive | n farms with positive animals/ n sampled farms |
% positive | Observations | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czech Republic | Central Bohemia Ústí nad Labem |
ELISA (cELISA Neospora caninum Antibody Test Kit, VMRD, USA) | 63/547 | 12.0 | 9/9 | 100 | Healthy adult sheep. | (Bártová et al., 2009) |
| Greece | Various regions | ELISA (in house) | 77/458 | 16.8 | 28/50 | 56.0 | Healthy dairy ewes (age 2–4 years), semi-extensive grazing, with grain and forages supplementation | (Diakou et al., 2013) |
| Italy | Lombardy: Bergamo, Milan, and Varese provinces | ELISA (in house) + immunoblot as confirmatory test | 83/428 | 19.3 | ns | 89.4 | Randomly sampled general sheep population, different rearing systems (semi-extensive, transhumant) | (Gazzonis et al., 2016) |
| Orobie Alps, Bergamo province | ELISA (CHEKIT Neospora, Bommeli Diagnostics, Switzerland) | 22/1010 | 2.2 | ns | ns | Randomly sampled general sheep population sharing habitat with wild ungulates during warm season | (Gaffuri et al., 2006) | |
| Poland | Mazurian lake district | ELISA (cELISA Neospora caninum Antibody Test Kit, VMRD, USA) + immunoblot as confirmatory test | 8/64 | 13.0 | 1/1 | 100 | Healthy Merino ewes (age 1–2 years) from a mixed flock with goats and fallow deer, semi-extensive management | (Moskwa et al., 2018) |
| Slovakia | Kosice, Presov | ELISA (Neospora caninum indirect ELISA ID.vet, France) + verification of positive and doubtful sera by cELISA (cELISA Neospora caninum Antibody Test Kit, VMRD, USA). | 14/382 | 3.7 | ns/100 | ns | Dairy ewes, which had aborted | (Spilovská et al., 2009) |
| Spain | Castilla y León: Zamora province | ELISA (NcSALUVET ELISA, Spain) | 304/986 | 30.8 | 1/1 | 100 | Dairy Assaf breed ewes with history of abortion in the flock, semi-intensive management, balanced ration (concentrate and forage) feeding. N. caninum seropositive dams were more likely to abort and to have repeated abortions than seronegative ones. N. caninum DNA was isolated from aborted foetuses. | (Sánchez-Sánchez et al., 2021a, Sánchez-Sánchez et al., 2021b) |
| Extremadura: Badajoz, and Andalusia: Córdoba and Jaén | ELISA (ID Screen Neospora caninum Indirect Multispecies, ID.vet, France) | 4/209 | 1.9 | 3/12 | 25.0 | Culled Merino and crossbred ewes with no particular disease, extensive breeding systems |
(Astorga et al., 2014) | |
| Castilla-La Mancha: Ciudad Real province | ELISA (cELISA Neospora caninum Antibody Test Kit, VMRD, USA) | 7/180 | 3.9 | ns/17 | ns | Manchega sheep flocks, male and female sheep | (Ruiz-Fons et al., 2014) | |
| Galicia | ELISA (ID Screen Neospora caninum Indirect Multi-species, ID.vet, France) | 132/2400 | 5.5 | 32/44 | 72.7 | Healthy adult sheep (> 6 months) from lamb-producing flocks | (Díaz et al., 2014) | |
| Galicia: Lugo Province | ELISA (cELISA Neospora caninum Antibody Test Kit, VMRD, USA) | 18/177 | 10.1 | ns | ns | Meat crossbred ewes, semi-extensive breeding system, grazing with hay or silage supplement | (Panadero et al., 2010) | |
| Switzerland | Country-wide | ELISA (ID Screen® Neospora caninum Indirect, ID.vet, France) + immunoblot (in house) of inconclusive sera | 5/653 | 0.8 | 4/143 | 2.8 | Randomly sampled general sheep population, healthy animals, different sex and ages | This study |
| Zurich | IFAT (in house, cut-off 1:160) | 12/117 | 10.3 | 1/1 | 100 | Ewes from a flock with abortion problems. N. caninum DNA detected in aborted foetuses | (Hässig et al., 2003) | |
| United Kingdom | England and Wales | ELISA (Mastazyme, Mast Diagnostics) + verification of positive sera by IFAT (in house, cut-off 1:50) | 3/660 | 0.45 | ns | ns | Ewes, which had recently aborted, sent by veterinary practitioners | (Helmick et al., 2002) |
ELISA: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; cELISA: competitive ELISA; IFAT: indirect fluorescent antibody test; ns: not specified.