Neospora

[sue greenwood]

Just a question to all dog owners. I was on a farm and the cows were suffering from the effects of Neospora. This means the cows get chronic dihorrea and this affects the fertility of the cow so it struggles to get back into calf.Farmers collect grass in summer and turn it to silage for their winter feed. With dogs having more access to farm land because of walkers rights the grass has dog excrement in it and the cow eats it. Neospora as far as i know is a fungus. Does the dog carry this in it's stomach and pass it out or is it part of the decaying process. Any thoughts?

 

[Mark Roberts]

Good post Sue, i've never realy thought about that or have and info on it, it will be interesting to hear any hard facts about it.

 

[Jan Doherty]

Neospora in cattle causes an abortion storm through a herd. If farm dogs eat any of the aborted feotus then they will get neospora. It is not passed from dog to dog by contact with excrement, it is passed on through the mother to her unborn pups hence bitches losing litters for apparently no reason or they pick it up from beef that has not been frozen or cooked before consumption.

It is only one step away from the disease Cats carry which is dangerous to humans and pregnant mums to be.

 

[Janimal]

some information on Neospora.....

Neospora Life Cyle

Dogs and faeces

 

[Jan Doherty]

That is a very interesting article as I have always blamed myself for Indy getting Neospora due to feeding raw beef from Tescos. But if other dogs can carry it and deposit it it there ppoh that is very worrying

 

[sue greenwood]

That was some interesting info thanks :thumbsup: It's the first time I've come across this so it's good to find other takes on this disease. looks like it can be very expensive for the farmer. The injection only slows down the process I hope they find a better cure. I know that I.G.E.R are looking at a silage additive to kill off E. Coli so that cows eating silage have a lower chance of catching the disease. Just makes you wonder whether they will find a way to kill off neospora.

 

[~Helen~]

Good topic - I've added it to FAQ so people can find it easily in the future. Thanks for the links etc!