Neospora caninum is a major cause of bovine abortion causing significant welfare harm, with the cattle-dog transmission cycle making control through management of both species important.
Neosporosis causes welfare harm through repeated late-term abortions in chronically infected cows. The loss of advanced pregnancies is physiologically stressful, and cows with repeated pregnancy losses face persistent reproductive failure that often leads to early culling. The welfare of individual aborted calves - whether they experience suffering as late-term fetuses - is also relevant. The difficulty of controlling neosporosis without effective vaccination makes prevention through biosecurity - primarily excluding dogs from cattle feed stores and preventing fecal contamination of hay and silage - the most important management approach.