Recovery of Brucella in raw milk minas artisanal cheese approved for consumption by official inspection agency in Brazil: assessment of prevalence and risk factors through One Health integrated approaches

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Marcio Roberto
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Duch, André Almeida Santos, Lage, Rômulo Tadeu de Assis, Faria, Letícia Scafutto de, Menezes, Liliane Denize Miranda, Ribeiro, João Batista, Souza, Guilherme Nunes de, Soares Filho, Paulo Martins, Preis, Ingred Sales, Sales, Érica Bravo, Souza, Patrícia Gomes de, Araújo, Flábio Ribeiro, Guimarães, Ricardo José de Paula Souza e, Mendes, Tulio, Brewer, Christina Pettan, Fonseca Júnior, Antônio Augusto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Digital do Instituto Evandro Chagas (Patuá)
• Texto Completo: https://patua.iec.gov.br/handle/iec/4665
• topic: Brucella abortus / isolamento & purificação; Queijo / microbiologia; Alimentos Orgânicos; Doenças Transmitidas por Alimentos; Zoonoses Bacterianas; Saúde Única

Background: Minas artisanal cheese (MAC) from the Serro region is a Brazilian intangible cultural heritage. Produced from raw milk, it may carry zoonotic pathogens such as Brucella. This study included a randomized survey for the prevalence of Brucella-positive MAC and its associated factors. Methods: MAC samples (n=55), each one from a different rural family-based cheese-processing agroindustry, were analysed for Brucella by direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) species-specific DNA detection and cultivation-based approaches. Results: Among 55 MACs that were analysed, we found 17 Brucella DNA-positive samples (30.9% [95% confidence interval {CI} 18.7 to 43.1]) by PCR and, for the first time, from one MAC (1.8% [95% CI 0.5 to 9.7]), viable Brucella abortus was recovered by cultivation. Higher values for two variables, the number of lactating cows per herd (p=0.043) and daily milk production per herd (p=0.043), were each associated with Brucella-positive MAC, which concentrated in three high-risk and one low-risk spatial clusters. Conclusions: MAC may be a source of Brucella for humans, since the positive samples were from batches that were sold by cheesemakers. This should be of concern and encourage cooperation between the health and agriculture sectors in order to mitigate this public health risk through One Health integrated approaches.