Test Vaccines Show Promise against Parasite of Cattle By Ann
Perry July 29, 2008 An effective vaccine against a parasite-
borne disease called neosporosis may be a few steps closer to
development, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
scientists and cooperators. Neosporosis, caused by the parasite
Neospora caninum, affects cattle worldwide. Infected animals
often abort their calves and develop other debilitating
complications that can cost producers millions of dollars every
Tuo and microbiologist Jenkins work at the ARS Parasitic
Diseases Laboratory in Beltsville, Md. They collaborated with
ARS Plant Pathology Laboratory molecular biologist Zhao and
National Institutes of Health researcher Daming Zhu to test a
new neosporosis vaccine in a mouse model. The team created the
vaccine using the parasites own proteins. One of these proteins,
called Neospora caninum cyclophilin (NcCyP), regulates the
response of the host immune system that limits the survival of
the parasite in the host after infection. The