Ocorrência de anticorpos anti-Neospora caninum em bovinos leiteiros no oeste do estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil

The neosporosis is considered a major cause of neonatal mortality and abortion in cattle, causing great economic and reproductive losses. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of antibodies against N. caninum in dairy cattle in Concordia, which is considered one of the biggest milk producers in the Santa Catarina state. Antibody was detect by indirect immunofluorescence (IFI), with the cut-off of 1:200. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and frequency distribution. The variables questioned was analyzed first by a univariate logistic regression to evaluate the association between abortion history and general management practices used in the farm with seropositive animals were selected for multivariate analysis if P<0.25. Chi-square was performed to estimate the proportion of seropositive animals, of the total of animals sampled, with a confidence interval of 95% (P≤0.05). An occurrence of 7,7% (23/299) seropositive animals were detected, and 51,9% (14/27) of the farms sampled with at least one positive animal. Regarding the age variable, a risk of 1.89 higher of having seropositive with the introduction of females in the first birth was observed, and the elimination of dogs in contact with cows in the farm demonstrated a risk 0.52 lower for neosporosis. There was no significant difference (P> 0.05) for all other variables questioned and its association with seropositive animals. Therefore, in this study it can be concluded that the dairy cattle from this region in study are potentially exposed to infection by N. caninum.