ANSC 312 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Neospora, Toxoplasma Gondii, Apicomplexan Life Cycle
15 Apr 2019
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Document Summary
Parasitic disease caused by the obligate intracellular protozoan neospora caninum and was first associated with neuromuscular disease in dogs in 1984. Neosporosis is a disease of worldwide distribution. It is a particularly serious disease of cattle and dogs; by causing paralysis & death in dogs and neonatal mortality & abortion in cattle, sheep, goats and horses. Neospora caninum has a relatively simple indirect life cycle. The dog and its wild relatives, including coyotes, foxes and wolves, are the definitive hosts of neospora caninum. They are the animals in which the parasite becomes sexually mature and reproduces. On the other hand, herbivores like cattle are the intermediate hosts and allow for asexual growth of the parasite. 3 infectious stages contributing to its transmission: sporozoites, tachyzoites and bradyzoites. Tachyzoites and bradyzoites are the stages found in the intermediate hosts and they occur intracellularly. Tachyzoites are the infective form of the parasite and are what allow infection to spread.
