Top dogs can catch things too!  Our NEW dog show panel checks for 8 pathogens potentially transmissible at dog shows.

 Neuro symptoms getting on your nerves? Try our canine neurological panel - 6 neurological pathogens from 1 CSF sample; or our feline neurological panel - 5 neurological pathogens from 1 CSF sample.

Oh baby! Try our canine breeding PCR panel - 3 canine sexually transmitted diseases tested from swabs or semen samples.

Respiratory symptoms got you breathless? Try our canine respiratory PCR panel - we test for 8 canine respiratory pathogens from throat, nasal and eye swabs.

...or maybe you need our feline respiratory PCR panel -- 6 feline respiratory pathogens from throat, nasal and eye swabs.

Diarrhea got you on the run? Try our canine diarrhea PCR panel -- 8 major diarrheagenic agents from 1 fecal specimen...
...OR our 9-pathogen feline diarrhea PCR panel.

Not feeling sanguine about bloodborne pathogens in cats? Try our feline bloodborne PCR panel -- 4 major bloodborne pathogens from 1 blood sample.

Ticks bugging you? Try our tickborne disease PCR panel -- 7 major tickborne pathogens from 1 blood sample.

Just plain sick and tired? Try our canine anemia PCR panel or our feline anemia PCR panel -- detect and differentiate multiple anemia pathogens from 1 blood sample.

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Zoologix performs canine and feline PCR tests for...

Anaplasma phagocytophilum

Anaplasma platys

Aspergillus species

Aspergillus fumigatus

Babesia

Bartonella

Baylisascaris procyonis

Bordetella bronchiseptica

Borrelia burgdorferi

Brucella canis

Campylobacter

Canine adenovirus type 1

Canine adenovirus type 2

Canine circovirus

Canine enteric coronavirus (CCV1)

Canine distemper

Canine herpesvirus

Canine papillomavirus

Canine parainfluenza virus

Canine parvovirus

Canine pneumovirus

Canine respiratory coronavirus (CCV2)

Chagas disease

Chikungunya virus

Chlamydophila psittaci

Clostridium species

Coccidia

Cryptococcus

Cryptosporidium

Cytauxzoon felis

Demodex gatoi mites

E. coli

Ehrlichia

Entamoeba

Fading kitten syndrome

Feline calicivirus

Feline distemper

Feline enteric coronavirus

Feline foamy virus

Feline herpesvirus type 1

Feline immunodeficiency virus

Feline infectious anemia

Feline infectious peritonitis

Feline leukemia

Feline panleukopenia

Feline papillomavirus

Feline pneunomitis

Feline rhinotracheitis virus

Feline sarcoma virus

Feline syncytial virus

Francisella tularensis

Giardia

Group G strep

Haemobartonella canis

Haemobartonella felis

Helicobacter

Influenza type A

Lawsonia intracellularis

Leishmania

Leptospira

Lyme disease

Mange in cats

Microsporum

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staph aureus)

Mycoplasma canis

Mycoplasma cynos

Mycoplasma felis

Mycoplasma haemocanis

Mycoplasma haemofelis

Neorickettsia helmintheca

Neospora caninum

Pasteurella multocida

Pneumocystis carinii

Rabies

RD114

Reovirus screen

Rickettsia screen

Ringworm

Salmonella

Salmon poisoning disease

Sarcocystis neurona

Streptococcus, Group G

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Streptococcus pyogenes

Streptococcus zooepidemicus

Toxoplasma gondii

Trichomonas/
Tritrichomonas

Trichophyton

Trypanosoma cruzi

Tularemia

West Nile virus

Yersinia pestis

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis


Neospora caninum PCR test for dogs and cats

dog and cat assay data sheet

Neospora caninum

Test code:
X0011 - Ultrasensitive qualitative detection of Neospora caninum by real time polymerase chain reaction

 X0011 is included on P0036 - canine neurological panel

Neospora caninum is a recently discovered, apicomplexan, coccidial protozoan that causes abortion in many mammals including cattle, goats, horses and sheep. Some evidence also indicates association of this organism with neonatal neurological and neuromuscular disease in mammals such as dogs, cattle, sheep and deer.

N. caninum-induced bovine abortion has been reported in many countries including the United States, Mexico, Canada, western Europe, Central and South America, Australia and Japan. N. caninum is a major cause of bovine abortion in USA. Prospective and retrospective studies show that 20-45% of bovine abortions in drylot dairies in California were attributable to neosporosis.

In adult cattle infected with this parasite, abortion seems to be the only clinical sign. Bovine fetuses from three months to nine months of gestational age can be infected with this parasite, with most cases occurring between the fifth and seventh month of gestation. Infected calves may be born clinically normal or with neurological signs such as weakness and ataxia.

In infected neonatal dogs, progressive hind limb paresis and paralysis are the most common clinical signs. Skin involvement has only been reported in older dogs. In infected adult horses encephalomyelitis, polyradiculoneuritis and myeloencephalitis can result.

The life cycle of this parasite consists of three stages known as tachyzoite, tissue cyst and oocyst. Tachyzoites are the rapidly multiplying form of the parasite that invades a variety of cells, producing the characteristic lesions of neosporosis in affected animals. The latent form is the tissue cyst, which contains bradyzoites and is found in peripheral and central nervous tissue.

Although other animals may be potential hosts of this parasite, only dogs can serve as both definitive (ie have tachyzoites in their tissues) and intermediate (ie shed oocysts in their feces) hosts of this parasite. When a definitive host ingests tissue cysts from infected intermediate host tissues, sexual development of this parasite takes place. This results in shedding of unsporulated oocysts in the feces. Sporulation occurs outside the host. Intermediate hosts such as cattle, dogs, sheep, goats, horses and deer may then become infected by ingesting food or water contaminated with the oocysts.

Neospora caninum infection is sometimes diagnosed by serology or by specific identification of parasites within tissue lesions using immunohistochemistry (IHC) techniques. However, these methods are not very sensitive and cannot detect some N. caninum infections. Molecular detection by polymerase chain reaction is the most specific, sensitive and rapid method to detect this parasite (Baszler et al., 1999).

Utilities:

  • Help confirm the disease causing agent
  • Shorten the time required to confirm a clinical diagnosis of N. caninum infection
  • Help ensure that animal populations are free of N. caninum
  • Early prevention of spread of this parasite among a group of animals
  • Minimize human exposure to this parasite

References:
Baszler, T.V., Gay, L.J., Long, M.T. and Mathison, B.A. (1999) Detection by PCR of Neospora caninum in Fetal Tissues from Spontaneous Bovine Abortions. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 4059-4064.

Specimen requirement: 0.2 ml feces, or rectal swab, or 0.2 ml whole blood in EDTA (purple top) tube, or 0.2 ml CSF, or 0.2 ml fresh, frozen or fixed brain, heart or aborted tissue.

Contact Zoologix if advice is needed to determine an appropriate specimen type for a specific diagnostic application. For specimen types not listed here, please contact Zoologix to confirm specimen acceptability and shipping instructions.

For all specimen types, if there will be a delay in shipping, or during very warm weather, refrigerate specimens until shipped and ship with a cold pack unless more stringent shipping requirements are specified. Frozen specimens should be shipped so as to remain frozen in transit. See shipping instructions for more information.

Turnaround time: 2 business days

Methodology: Qualitative real time PCR

Normal range: Nondetected

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