Evidence of Australian wild deer exposure to N. caninum infection and potential implications for the maintenance of N. caninum sylvatic cycle

Jose L. Huaman; Carlo Pacioni; Mark Doyle; David M. Forsyth; Karla J. Helbig; Teresa G. Carvalho

doi:10.1186/s12917-023-03712-2

Back

Evidence of Australian wild deer exposure to N. caninum infection and potential implications for the maintenance of N. caninum sylvatic cycle

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Evidence of Australian wild deer exposure to N. caninum infection and potential implications for the maintenance of N. caninum sylvatic cycle

Jose L. Huaman, Carlo Pacioni, Mark Doyle, David M. Forsyth, Karla J. Helbig and Teresa G. Carvalho

BMC veterinary research, Vol.19, 153

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-023-03712-2

Files and links (1)

pdf

Evidence of Australian wild deer exposure to N. caninum infection and potential implications for the maintenance of N. caninum sylvatic cycle1.10 MBDownload View

Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access

Abstract

Infections with the coccidian parasite Neospora caninum affect domestic and wild animals worldwide. In Australia, N. caninum infections cause considerable losses to the cattle industry with seroprevalence of 8.7% in beef and 10.9% in dairy cattle. Conversely, the role of wild animals, in maintaining the parasite cycle is also unclear. It is possible that native or introduced herbivorous species could be reservoir hosts of N. caninum in Australia, but to date, this has not been investigated. We report here the first large-scale screening of N. caninum antibodies in Australian wild deer, spanning three species (fallow, red and sambar deer). Consequently, we also assessed two commercial cELISA tests validated for detecting N. caninum in cattle for their ability to detect N. caninum antibodies in serum samples of wild deer. N. caninum antibodies were detected in 3.7% (7/189, 95% CI 1.8 – 7.45) of the wild deer serum samples collected in south-eastern Australia (n = 189), including 97 fallow deer (Dama dama), 14 red deer (Cervus elaphus), and 78 sambar deer (Rusa unicolor). Overall, our study provides the first detection of N. caninum antibodies in wild deer and quantifies deer's potential role in the sylvatic cycle of N. caninum.

Details

Title: Evidence of Australian wild deer exposure to N. caninum infection and potential implications for the maintenance of N. caninum sylvatic cycle
Authors/Creators: Jose L. Huaman - La Trobe University
Carlo Pacioni - Murdoch University, Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability
Mark Doyle - South East Local Land Services, Bega, NSW Australia
David M. Forsyth - New South Wales Department of Primary Industries
Karla J. Helbig - La Trobe University
Teresa G. Carvalho - La Trobe University
Publication Details: BMC veterinary research, Vol.19, 153
Publisher: BioMed Central
Grant note: This study was funded by the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (PO1-L-002). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Identifiers: 991005606970007891
Copyright: © The Author(s) 2023
Murdoch Affiliation: College of Environmental and Life Sciences
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

Metrics

64 File views/ downloads

64 Record Views

4 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Citation topics: 1 Clinical & Life Sciences; 1.217 Parasitology - Malaria, Toxoplasmosis & Coccidiosis; 1.217.1038 Toxoplasma Gondii
Web Of Science research areas: Veterinary Sciences
ESI research areas: Plant & Animal Science