The recognition of prevalence ofNeospora caninum infections in Poland is very poor. Vertical transmission of N. caninum has been shown to be a major route of infection in cattle. In the present study we examined the utility of PCR methods in detecting Neospora caninum DNA in brains of calves born from mothers with a high liter of anti-Neospora antibodies. Conventional and nested PCR reactions were performed on DNA extracted from brain tissue of Neospora-suspected calves using primers complementary to sequences of ITS1 in Neospora caninum rRNA genes. Conventional PCR reactions employing a set of primers complementary to sequences flanking ITS1 using 10 ng of template DNA gave a single product of approximately 350 bp. Following single tube nested PCR a product of approximately 150 bp appeared. .
