Veterinary Parasitology 123 (2004) 33–40 Prevalence of anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in dogs from urban, periurban and rural areas of the city of Uberlˆ andia, Minas Gerais—Brazil B.C.T.M. Fernandes a , S.M. Gennari b , S.L.P. Souza b , J.M. Carvalho a , W.G. Oliveira a , M.C. Cury a,∗ a Parasitology Laboratory, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Federal University of Uberlˆ andia, Av. Pará 1720, Bloco 4C, CEP 38400-902, Uberl ˆ andia, Minas Gerais, Brazil b Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny (FMVZ), University of São Paulo (USP-SP), Minas Gerais, Brazil Accepted 1 May 2004 Abstract In Brazil there are few reports on the prevalence of anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in dogs from urban, periurban and rural areas. Serum samples from 450 dogs, 300 from urban, 58 from periurban and 92 from rural areas, were tested for the detection of anti-N. caninum IgG antibodies using IFAT: indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT, ≥50). Antibodies were observed in 63 (14%) of the 450 serum samples analyzed, with 32 (10.7%) in dogs coming from the urban area, 11 (18.9%) from the periurban area and 20 (21.7%) from the rural area. Statistical differences were seen between the occurrences in animals from the urban area and those of the rural area (P = 0.01). The antibody titers found were: 1:50 in 20 dogs, 1:100–1:800 in 41 dogs, and 1:3200 in two dogs. In the female dogs, a smaller prevalence of dogs with antibodies was observed in those from the urban area (7.5%) in comparison with those of the rural (21.0%) (P = 0.05) and periurban (23.3%) (P = 0.01) areas. There were growing levels of antibody prevalence with the increase in age of the dogs in all three areas studied. Although this increase was not significant, it indicates a tendency towards more infections with age, suggesting post-natal exposure to N. caninum. However, a significant difference (P = 0.05) was observed in the occurrence of anti-N. caninum antibodies in dogs with ages = 2 years in urban (13.1% urban) versus rural enviroments (27.1% rural). Among the other age brackets studied the difference was not significant. The results confirm the presence of N. caninum in the region and reveal the important role of dogs in the parasite’s epidemiology. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Neospora caninum; Dogs; Urban; Periurban; Rural ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +55 34 3218 2198; fax: +55 34 3218 2333. E-mail address: cury@umuarama.ufu.br (M.C. Cury). 0304-4017/$ – see front matter © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2004.05.016