Seroepidemiology of Neospora caninum among goats (Capra hircus) in the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Braz,B.M.A.
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Outros Autores: Valente,J.D.M., Villalobos,E.M.C., Lara,M.C.C.S.H., Machado,C.A.L., Barbosa,I.C., Melo,V.S.P., Stipp,D.T., Barros-Filho,I.R., Biondo,A.W., Vieira,T.S.W.J., Vieira,R.F.C.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivo brasileiro de medicina veterinária e zootecnia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-09352018000100147
• topic: IFA; neosporosis; seroprevalence; small ruminants

ABSTRACT Although goat dairy farms in Brazil may have a higher risk of infection by Neospora caninum than beef farms, risk factor evaluation on a representative population remains to be fully established in Brazil. Accordingly, this study aimed to establish the occurrence of anti-N. caninum antibodies and factors associated with exposure in 406 blood samples from five dairy and three beef goat farms in the state of Paraíba, northeastern Brazil. Anti-N. caninum antibodies were detected by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), with samples considered positive when reacting with dilution ≥ 1:50. A total of 106/406 goats (26.11%; 95% CI: 21.96-30.72%) were seroreactive comprising 2/61 (3.28%), 10/45 (22.22%), 13/50 (26.00%), 17/51 (33.33%) to 29/46 (63.04%) in dairy farms, and from 3/54 (5.56%), 12/50 (24.00%) to 20/49 (40.82%) on the beef farms. No significant associations were found in relation to age, gender, dairy versus beef farms, occurrence of abortions or mummified fetuses, and seroreactivity to N. caninum (P>0.05). In conclusion, goat farms in the state of Paraíba showed the highest occurrence of anti-N. caninum antibodies to date in Brazil.