To determine the polymorphisms of the prion protein gene in sheep from the state of Paraná, Brazil, 323 animals of meat breeds (Suffolk, Hampshire Down, Texel, Ile de France, Dorper, Dorset, Santa Inês and crossbreds) were genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. The most frequent allele was ARQ, with a frequency of 0.61, followed by ARR (0.30). VRQ and AHQ alleles were present at very low frequencies (0.13 and 0.05 respectively), and the ARH allele was not found. Seven genotypes were identified (ARR/ARR, ARR/ARQ, ARQ/ARQ, ARR/VRQ, ARR/AHQ, ARQ/VRQ and ARQ/AHQ), of which ARQ/ARQ was the most frequent (0.41). The Santa Inês breed and crossbred animals showed the highest genotypic variability.

No abstract

The fecal egg count reduction test (FECRT)

The main pathogenic treponemes causing bovine digital dermatitis were identified from 17 infected herds in southern Brazil for the first time in this study using PCR. We did not find a relationship between treponeme phylogroup composition and clinical classification. Treponema phagedenis was present in all lesions. Rumen fluid was implicated as a reservoir location for these pathogens.A lthough bovine digital dermatitis (BDD) has been known to occur in Brazil since the early 1990s (1), there have been no attempts to describe the possible pathogens involved, apart from reports of histopathological (2) and electron microscopic (3) findings. Treponema species are difficult to culture, so molecular approaches are useful for detecting and identifying these spirochetes (4, 5). The present study describes, for the first time, the frequencies of the major treponeme species in BDD lesions in Brazil. Similar results in Europe, North America, and Asia (6-11) confirm the polytreponemal aspect of this clinical condition.Farms in southern Brazil where BDD infections are endemic (n ϭ 28) were identified by consulting veterinary records. Previously identified dairy cows (n ϭ 200) were individually reexamined and, if positive for BDD (n ϭ 22), were photographed and their lesions classified according to clinical stage, from M1 to M4 (12-14). Samples (n ϭ 22) were surgically excised, placed in phosphatebuffered saline (PBS) solution, and refrigerated (4°C to 8°C) until processing. The infected digit was then topically treated with antibiotics (oxytetracycline) and bandaged. Using a stomach tube, ruminal fluid (Ն50 ml of fresh fluid) was collected from 15 cows from seven different BDD-positive herds, which were chosen by convenience. From one BDD-free herd with a history of lameness but without any clinical BDD lesions detected on previous examinations of the whole herd, ruminal fluid from 10 cows was sampled for use as a negative control. All samples underwent extraction of bacterial DNA, as previously described (12,15). A nested-PCR method was used, as previously described (10). The treponeme-specific primers were called Treponema sp., Treponema medium/T. vincentii-like, Treponema phagedenis-like, and Treponema denticola/T. putidum-like (10). The research was approved by the Committee for the Ethical Use of Animals of Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUCPR) (registration no. 646) in 2011.Of the herds, 17 (60.71%) had BDD lesions on the day of examination and were positive for subsequent molecular BDD detection. The lesions were in different clinical stages (14) and were classified as follows: 13.64% were M1, 45.45% were M2, 22.73% were M3, and 18.18% were M4. However, certain lesions classified as M2 or M3 contained areas that were M4 or M1. In comparison, the cows in the present study exhibited considerably more M2 lesions (45.45% versus 21.03% in the previous study) and fewer M4 lesions (18.18% versus 50.03% in the previous study) ( Table 1). The reason for this observation or why the different forms can transition f...

O controle da verminose gastrintestinal de pequenos ruminantes representa grande desafio no manejo sanitário destas espécies. O aumento de casos de resistência dos parasitos aos diferentes princípios ativos tem gerado uma demanda por alternativas de controle não químico, como a seleção de animais que são geneticamente resistentes aos parasitos. Com o objetivo de identificar animais resistentes e susceptíveis aos helmintos gastrintestinais foram realizados dois experimentos, estudando 70 ovelhas e 28 caprinos. A contagem de ovos por gramas de fezes (OPG), valores de hematócrito (Ht), contagem de eosinófilos sanguíneos e classificação pelo método FAMACHA© foram utilizados na análise de Cluster para esta identificação. No primeiro experimento, 11 ovelhas (28,9%) foram classificadas como resistentes e 11 (28,9%) como susceptíveis. Após a classificação, o rebanho foi acompanhado e as médias dos animais em período de lactação, para o grupo de resistentes e susceptíveis, foram de 435,2 e 3924,0 OPG; e de 1,5 e 1,9 para o FAMACHA©, respectivamente. Já para as ovelhas fora do período de lactação, as médias foram de 80,0 e 354,4 OPG para resistentes e susceptíveis, respectivamente, e de 1,3 para o FAMACHA©, para ambos os grupos. No segundo experimento, em 28 caprinos, usando dados do FAMACHA©, foi possível classificar como susceptíveis 10,7% dos animais e 17,85% como resistentes. Quando foram utilizados somente os dados de OPG, também houve uma separação em grupos. Porém, o resultado obtido pelo FAMACHA© é o mesmo do OPG somente quando se tratam dos animais susceptíveis. O FAMACHA© identifica animais resilientes (capazes de suportar os efeitos da infecção parasitária) e não necessariamente resistentes (capazes de evitar o estabelecimento da infecção). O método FAMACHA© pode ser útil na classificação de animais em susceptíveis e resistentes/resilientes aos helmintos gastrintestinais, desde que utilizado a longo prazo e em rebanhos com maior grau de infecção parasitária.

No abstract

Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii, a protozoan with wide geographical distribution and minimal parasitic specificity that affects many species of wild and domestic animals. In livestock, especially in small ruminants like goats, toxoplasmosis can cause abortion and the birth of weak animals, leading to economic losses to farmers, and is a major source of human infection. This is a seroepidemiological study of toxoplasmosis in goats in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Sera from 405 goats from the metropolitan mesoregion of Curitiba, eastern state, were tested by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Information on properties and goat characteristics was also collected using questionnaires. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis was 39.41 and 35.96% by ELISA and IFAT, respectively. T. gondii antibody prevalence increased with age. The risk factors for T. gondii infection in goats were: age over one year; exposure to cats, type of management and purpose of breeding. Other epidemiological factors and relevant control measures are discussed in the current study.Keywords: Toxoplasma gondii, seroepidemiology, risk factors. ResumoA toxoplasmose é uma zoonose causada pelo Toxoplasma gondii, um protozoário com vasta distribuição geográfica e pouca especificidade parasitária, que pode afetar muitas espécies de animais selvagens e domésticos. Em animais de produção, especialmente pequenos ruminantes, como caprinos, pode provocar abortos e nascimento de crias fracas, causando perdas econômicas para os criadores, além de ser uma importante fonte de infecção humana. Este é um estudo soroepidemiológico para toxoplasmose caprina no Estado do Paraná. Soros de 405 caprinos da mesorregião metropolitana de Curitiba, no leste paranaense foram avaliados pelas técnicas de imunoensaio enzimático (ELISA) e reação de imunofluorescência indireta (RIFI), além da avaliação de questionários com dados das propriedades e animais estudados. A prevalência encontrada foi de 39,41 e 35,96% para as técnicas ELISA e RIFI, respectivamente. A prevalência de anticorpos anti-T. gondii aumenta com a idade dos animais. Os fatores de risco para infecção por T. gondii em caprinos encontrados neste estudo são: idade acima de um ano, presença de gatos, tipo de manejo e propósito da criação. Outros fatores epidemiológicos e medidas de controle são discutidos no presente trabalho.Palavras chave: Toxoplasma gondii, soroepidemiologia, fatores de risco.

Sheep and goats are the species of farm animal with the highest growth rate in Paraná State. The main problems facing Paraná State flocks are gastrointestinal parasites and anthelmintic resistance. One of the newest resources used to slow down the development of anthelmintic resistance is the FAMACHA © system, a selective method useful for controlling gastrointestinal verminosis in small ruminants. The purpose of the present research was to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the FAMACHA © system in sheep and goats and to compare the results for both species. The conjunctivae of 83 Suffolk ewes and 60 adult cross-bred Boer does were evaluated by the same trained person using the FAMACHA © system. The packed cell value (PCV) served as the gold standard for clinical FAMACHA © evaluation. To calculate the sensitivity and specificity of the FAMACHA © system, different criteria were adopted in turn: animals classified as FAMACHA © (F © ) 4 and 5, or 3, 4 and 5, were consid-ered to be anemic (positive test), and animals classified as F © 1, 2 and 3, or 1 and 2 were considered to be non-anemic (negative test). Three standard values of PCV, namely ≤19%, ≤18% or ≤15%, were used to confirm anemia. At all cut-off levels, the sensitivity increased if F © 3 animals were included as being anemic. However, changes in levels of sensitivity were associated with reciprocal changes in specificity. The sensitivity was higher for sheep than for goats, excepting when the criteria included PCV ≤ 18 and F © 3, F © 4 and F © 5 were considered positive. In contrast, the specificity was always lower in sheep for any criteria adopted. Other than in goats, using the ≤15 cut-off level for sheep, it is possible to opt not to drench the animals that were shown to be F © 3 because the sensitivity is still high, indicating that few animals that should have been drenched were overlooked. In goats, in contrast, the low sensitivity at all cut-off levels made it too risky to leave F © 3 animals undrenched. Even though the number of correct treatments for goats was always higher than that for sheep, the opposite was true for the kappa index for all the criteria tested. Therefore, the FAMACHA © system is suitable for the identification of anemic animals of both species. It is necessary that all small ruminants classified as FAMACHA © level 3 are also treated to increase the sensitivity of the method.