Increased risk of abortion following Neospora caninum abortion outbreaks: a retrospective and prospective cohort study in four dairy herds

Explosive abortion outbreaks in 4 Dutch dairy herds during 1992 to 1994 are reported. In 50 of 51 fetuses submitted during the first 3 wk of the outbreaks characteristic histological lesions compatible for infection with Neospora caninum were seen. Diagnosis of infection was confirmed by immunohistochemistry in 40 fetuses (78%). No evidence for other abortifacients was found. The abortion risk of the herds was investigated in a prospective and retrospective cohort study. The prospective study showed that cows aborting during the outbreaks and N. caninum seropositive nonaborting cows had a two- to three-fold increased risk of abortion compared with N. caninum seronegative cows. Retrospective examination showed that seropositive nonaborting cows had an increased risk of abortion before the outbreaks, which may indicate that these animals were infected with N. caninum prior to the outbreaks. It is concluded that serostatus can be used for selective culling of cows to decrease future risk of abortion in dairy herds.