To evaluate the prevalence and possible risk factors for brucellosis caused by Brucella abortus in water buffaloes in the state of Pará, Brazil, 3,917 female buffalo serum samples from pregnant and non-pregnant animals were examined: 2,809 from Marajó Island and 1,108 from the mainland. The buffered acidified plate antigen (BAPA) screening test positively diagnosed 4.8% (188/3,917) of the animals with brucellosis, and the 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) confirmatory test affirmed 95.7% (180/188) of the results. The brucellosis prevalence was 4.17 times greater in mainland animals than on Marajó Island, with the highest prevalence in Tailândia (11.30%) and Paragominas (12.38%). Brucellosis seroprevalence was significantly influenced (p < 0.05) by reproductive status, with pregnant females being most vulnerable. These results demonstrate that brucellosis infection is active in the Brazilian region containing the largest buffalo population and that this disease poses a threat to public health and buffalo production in Pará.

The objective was to evaluate the effects of palm kernel cake (PKC) supplementation on voluntary feed intake, in situ rumen degradability and performance in the wettest (WS—January to June) and less rainy seasons (LR—July to December) in the eastern Amazon. A total of 52 crossbred buffaloes that were neither lactating nor gestating were used, with 24 for the LR, aged 34 ± 04 months and an initial average weight of 503 ± 48 kg, and 24 for the WS aged 40 ± 04 months with an average weight of 605 ± 56 kg. The four treatments (levels of PKC in relation to body weight) were distributed in a completely randomized design, with 0% (PKC0), 0.25% (PKC0.2), 0.5% (PKC0.5) and 1% (PKC1) with six repetitions. The animals were housed in Marandu grass paddocks, intermittently, with access to water and mineral mixture ad libitum. Degradability was evaluated by the in situ bag technique in four other crossbred buffaloes with rumen cannulae, in a 4 × 4 Latin square (four periods and four treatments). The inclusion of PKC increased supplement consumption and production of ether extracts and reduced the intake of forage and non-fibrous carbohydrates. The dry matter degradability of Marandu grass was not affected; however, the fermentation kinetics in neutral detergent fiber (NDF) differed between the treatments. The co-product dry matter colonization time was greater in PKC1 and the highest effective degradability rates were from PKC0, but the productive performance of the animals was not influenced. Supplementation of buffaloes with PKC is recommended for up to 1% of body weight.

Ruminant energy supplementation with vegetable oils or fats has been standing out worldwide and oil palm processing has been receiving growing interest. This study assessed the effect of supplementation with saturated and unsaturated fatty acids from the palm oil industry on the lipid profile of seminal plasma and of the sperm membrane, as well as on the morphological and functional characteristics of raw and cryopreserved buffalo semen. Twelve purebred Murrah bulls ( Bubalus bubalis ) were assigned to the experimental groups and fed diets for 120 days with no added lipids (CONT, four bulls), or with an extra amount of 3% lipids from crude palm oil (PALM, four bulls), or from palm oil deodorizer distillate (PODD, four bulls). Semen was collected and cryopreserved every 15 days. The lipid composition of membranes and semen quality were determined after collections. Lipid supplementation did not impact feed intake (P>0.05). Diet enrichment with PALM increased the linoleic acid (C18:2,ω6) in seminal plasma. Lipid supplementation did not increase the polyunsaturated fatty acids in the sperm membrane composition, but significantly increased the lignoceric acid (C24:0). Cryopreserved semen of the supplemented bulls presented higher progressive motility (60.2 vs. 67.9 vs. 65.2%; P<0.05) and sperm viability detected by eosin-nigrosin staining (61.1 vs. 69.4 vs. 67.8%; P<0.05). Palm oil reduced major sperm defects in both raw (12.2 vs. 9.3 vs. 13.2%; P<0.0001) and cryopreserved semen (12.4 vs. 9.4 vs. 11.2%; P<0.0001). The lipids added to the diet did not impact the population of spermatozoa with intact plasma and acrosomal membranes (PI-/PSA-), but significantly increased the percentage of spermatozoa with high mitochondrial potential (25.6 vs. 31.5 vs. 32.0%; P=0.008). The results suggest that lipid supplementation based on crude palm oil or palm oil deodorizer distillate can be safely used to feed buffalo bulls and may increase sperm attributes related to male fertility.

The use of co-products as a feed supplement for ruminants makes livestock sustainable and optimizes the use of available areas and animal performance. Furthermore, when cakes are used, the residual fat composition can influence ruminal metabolism and methane (CH4) production. This study aimed to assess the effects of a diet containing cupuassu (CUP; Theobroma grandiflorum) and tucuma (TUC; Astrocaryum vulgare Mart.) cakes on intake, digestibility, serum metabolites, performance, and CH4 emissions in confined sheep in the Amazon. Approximately 28 animals, Dorper-Santa Inês, castrated, with an average initial live weight (ILW) of 35 ± 2.3 kg, were distributed in metabolic cages, in a completely randomized design, with four treatments and seven replications: (1) Control (C40), without the addition of Amazonian cake and with 40 g of ether extract (EE)/kg of dietary dry matter (DM); (2) CUP, the inclusion of the CUP cake and 70 g of EE/kg; (3) TUC, the inclusion of the TUC cake and 70 g of EE/kg; and (4) Control (C80), without the addition of Amazonian cake and with 80 g of EE/kg of dietary DM, with roughage to concentrate ratio of 40:60. The use of the TUC cake as a feed supplement reduced the intake of DM, crude protein (CP), and EE compared to the inclusion of the CUP cake (p &lt; 0.05); however, it increased the intake of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) by 32% (p &lt; 0.01). The highest averages of DM (732 g/kg) and CP (743 g/kg) digestibility were presented in C40, while the highest digestibility of NDF was presented in TUC (590 g/kg). Albumin levels stayed above and protein levels were below the reference values, and the C40 diet also obtained below results for cholesterol, triglycerides and High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) (P &lt; 0.05). Sheep fed CUP (91 g) and TUC (45 g) had lower daily weight gains (DWGs) than those fed with diets without the inclusion of cakes (C40 = 119 g; C80 = 148 g), and feed efficiency (FE) was also lower in CUP (84) and TUC (60) diets than in C40 (119) and C80 (137) diets. CH4 emissions were lower in animals fed TUC (26 L/day) and higher in C40 (35 L/day); however, TUC resulted in higher CH4 emissions in grams/body live weight (BW) gain/day (353 g/BW/day) vs. 183 g/BW/day (C40), 157 g/BW/day (C80), and 221 g/BW/day (CUP). The supplementation with cakes did not improve intake, digestibility and performance, did not compromise blood metabolites and did not reduce the enteric CH4 emission in confined sheep in the Amazon; however, the use of CUP cake showed similar results to the control treatments and did not increase CH4 emissions, as occurred with the inclusion of TUC cake.

Based on these data, we demonstrated the beneficial effects of TES-TRIS for post-thaw buffalo sperm quality; however, no protective effect was observed for buffalo sperm cryopreserved with the different tested concentrations of Lippia origanoides extract oil. Key words: Powdered Coconut Water. Lippia. Cryopreservation. Spermatozoa. Buffalo. ResumoPara a implantação da inseminação artificial é indispensável à utilização de sêmen congelado, que pode provocar mudanças deletérias na estrutura e na integridade das membranas espermáticas, comprometendo sua função. Para evitar estes danos celulares, há a necessidade de se utilizar meios diluidores e substratos adequados que recuperem o maior número possível de células viáveis pós-descongelação. Para isso, foram avaliados, no experimento I, três diferentes diluidores, o diluidor TES-TRIS, bastante utilizado para bubalinos, e um diluidor a base de água de coco em pó (ACP-112  ), associado ou não ao leite (ACP-112  -Leite), na congelação do sêmen de bubalinos; e no experimento II, foi avaliado o efeito do óleo extraído da Lippia origanoides na proteção dos espermatozóides contra as crioinjúrias decorrentes da congelação do sêmen bubalino. Foram utilizados 10 touros bubalinos para as colheitas de sêmen (10 ejaculados/touro), sendo os ejaculados diluídos em TES-TRIS (controle), ACP-112  e ACP-112  -Leite no experimento I; e no experimento II, os ejaculados foram diluídos no melhor diluidor obtido no experimento I, acrescido de 2.5 µg mL -1 , 5 µg mL -1 e 10 µg mL -1 da planta e o grupo controle, constituído somente do diluidor. O sêmen recém colhido foi analisado quanto as características convencionais, tais como, motilidade, concentração, morfologia e viabilidade. Após a descongelação das amostras foram avaliados novamente, motilidade e viabilidade espermática, e posteriormente, foram realizados os testes de termo-resistência, hiposmótico e de avaliação das membranas dos espermatozóides, através das sondas fluorescentes PI, FITC-PSA e JC-1, utilizando a citometria de fluxo. Os dados obtidos foram submetidos à ANOVA e ao Teste de Tukey a 5%. No experimento I, o diluente TES-TRIS apresentou melhores resultados para as várias características avaliadas quando comparado com o ACP-112  e ACP-112  -Leite (P < 0.05), demonstrando maior proteção deste diluidor às estruturas espermáticas durante a criopreservação do sêmen de bubalinos. No experimento II, as diferentes concentrações do óleo extraído da Lippia origanoides não demonstraram nenhuma diferença (P > 0.05) entre as variáveis avaliadas, quanto à proteção das estruturas espermáticas durante a criopreservação. Com base nestes dados, pôde-se demonstrar os efeitos benéficos do diluidor TES-TRIS na qualidade pós-descongelação dos espermatozóides bubalinos; entretanto, nenhum efeito protetor foi observado sobre os espermatozóides bubalinos criopreservados em associação com o óleo extraído da Lippia origanoides, nas diferentes concentrações utilizadas. Palavras-chave: Água de coco em pó. Lippia. Criopreservação. Espermatozóid...