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This is a genus of emerging parasites. The first description was in Norway in 1984 when a cyst‐forming protozoan parasite was associated with the development of encephalomyelitis and myositis in a litter of puppies. Since then, the parasite responsible has been given the name Neospora caninum although Heydorn and Melhorn (2002) consider this to be a ‘nomen nudum’ – that is it fails to conform to International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Despite the taxonomic uncertainty, most workers continue to refer to the parasite as N. caninum and we shall do the same. Presumably, up until 1984, the parasite was overlooked because it rapidly became recognised as having a cosmopolitan distribution and being a major cause of abortion in cattle. Another species of Neospora, Neospora hughesi, causes myeloencephalitis in horses and donkeys but we currently know very little about its biology.