First report of Neospora caninum infection in pigs in China

Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite which can infect many mammals and birds with a worldwide distribution. However, no molecular data are available about the occurrence of N. caninum in pigs. In this study, the serological and molecular prevalence of N. caninum infection in farmed pigs were investigated in Hunan province, China, between January 2017 and December 2018. A total of 1,500 serum samples collected from 10 herds in Hunan province were evaluated using a competitive‐inhibition enzyme‐linked immunoassay assay (cELISA). The overall seroprevalence of N. caninum in the examined pigs was 1.9%. The seroprevalence of N. caninum ranged from 0.3% to 4.6% among different regions in Hunan province of China (p