Association between Neospora caninum seropositivity and reproductive disorders in girolando cows

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in Girolando cows, in order to evaluate the association between seropositivity and reproductive disorders. Blood samples were collected from 40 dairy cows in their reproductive phase from the cranial superficial epigastric vein. The blood samples were tested using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT) to detect anti-N.caninum antibodies. The serological results were used to verify whether there was any association with the manifestation of reproductive disorders based on data from the records of reproductive history from 2017 to 2018 as well as the clinical observations of the herd throughout this study. The Fisher exact test was used to verify the existence of an association between the serology and reproductive disorders, adopting a 95% confidence level. The serological results showed a 27.5% seroprevalence in the herd for N. caninum, however, after statistical analysis, no association between seropositivity and reproductive disorders was found in the evaluated herd. Although the studied population is infected with Neospora caninum, we can infer that anti-Neospora caninum antibodies present in Girolando dairy cows at the UFRRJ Dairy Cattle Facility are not associated with the occurrence of reproductive disorders.