Congenital neosporosis in goats from the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil

Congenital Neospora caninum infection was diagnosed in two Saanen goat kids from two distinct herds with a history of abortion and weak newborn goat kids in the Southern region of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The first kid was weak at birth, had difficulty to rise and was unable to nurse. Gross lesions of porencephaly and hydrocephalus ex vacuo were seen. Multifocal necrosis, gliosis and non-supurative encephalitis were observed in the brain. Several parasitic cysts with a thick wall that reacted strongly only with polyclonal antiserum to Neospora caninum were seen in the cerebral cortex, brain stem and cerebellum. The second kid was born from a Neospora caninum seropositive mother that aborted in the last pregnancy. It was born without clinical signs. The diagnosis of neosporosis was based on antibody titer of 1:800 to N. caninum by indirect fluorescence antibody test obtained from blood collected before the goat kid ingested the colostrum and Neospora caninum DNA was detected by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced from placenta. This is the first report of neosporosis in goats in the southeast region of Brazil.