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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, September 1999, p. 765-767, Vol. 6, No. 5
Departments of Veterinary
Sciences1 and Molecular
Biology,2 University of Wyoming, Laramie,
Wyoming 82017-3944, and Department of Pathology, Albert
Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 104613
Received 25 January 1999/Returned for modification 1 April
1999/Accepted 16 June 1999
Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite that is
closely related to Toxoplasma gondii. Dogs are a definitive
host. Prior to its discovery in 1988, N. caninum infection
in animals was often mistakenly diagnosed as toxoplasmosis. Neosporosis
in animals is characterized by encephalitis, abortion, and other
conditions that clinically and pathologically resemble toxoplasmosis.
The potential of N. caninum to infect humans is unknown.
Therefore, evidence of human exposure to this parasite was sought by
screening for antibodies in blood donors by indirect fluorescent
antibody (IFA) tests and immunoblotting. Of 1,029 samples screened, 69 (6.7%) had titers of 1:100 by IFA testing. Fifty of the 69 (72%) sera
that were positive for N. caninum were also negative for a
closely related protozoan pathogen of humans, T. gondii.
Immunoblot analysis confirmed the specificity of the positive sera for
N. caninum antigens, with several sera recognizing multiple
Neospora antigens with molecular masses similar to those of
antigens recognized by monkey anti-N. caninum serum. An
immunodominant antigen of approximately 35 kDa was observed with 12 sera. These data provide evidence of human exposure to N. caninum, although the antibody titers in healthy donors were low.
The significance of human exposure to, and possible infection with,
this parasite is unknown and warrants further study.
1071-412X/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Serological Evidence of Human Infection with the
Protozoan Neospora caninum
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Molecular Biology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82017-3944. Phone: (307) 766-5458. Fax: (307) 766-3875. E-mail:
rheinzen{at}uwyo.edu.
Present address: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University
of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61802.
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