If a dog sheds Neospora and the contaminated feed is mixed into the ration, an entire herd is potentially exposed to neosporosis and could suffer an abortion epidemic, McAllister says. They are the only hosts known to produce the fecal-borne oocyst stage in the agent's life cycle. Veterinarians, dairy farmers and other livestock producers have been frustrated by neosporosis, because it was not known how the disease was transmitted, McAllister says. As a result, no known methods of preventing spontaneous abortion epidemics had been discovered. McAllister's research suggests that the risk of neosporosis epidemic could be greatly reduced by the simple, low-tech solution of keeping animal feed in a fenced area or closed container.
Researchers detail study results and also suggest ways to eliminate the problem.
The discovery of the parasite host was the culmination of several years of research performed at UW, sponsored by a USDA National Research Initiative grant.