Presence of Neospora caninum DNA of Wild Birds from Turkey

is a protozoon parasite that has a worldwide distribution and mainly causes abortion in cattle and current serological evidence shows that the disease may be also zoonotic. Wild birds play a role as a reservoir of the disease in nature. The study aimed to determine the prensence of in wild birds. In this study, the presence of neosporosis in wild birds (n=55) including 22 different species found in the western side of Turkey, was investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, PCR positive samples were confirmed by sequencing, BLAST, and phylogenetic analysis using MEGA7. Obtained results showed that the presence of DNA was 5.45% (3/55) in brain-heart homogenates wild birds. The bird species which were found positive for were little owl ( ), common buzzard ( ), and little tern ( ). According to phylogenetic analysis and BLAST, all samples were compatible with reference isolates. To the best of authors' knowledge, this is the first study detecting in little tern. In future studies, it may be interesting to investigate the prevalence of in other wild animals to elucidate the transmission properties.