ABSTRACT. A molecular epidemiological analysis was performed in 19 rabies viruses (RVs) isolated from haematophagous, frugivorous and insectivorous bats, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The authors carried out RT-PCR for amplification of the RV nucleoprotein (N) gene, and determined 1,335 nucleotide sequences of N gene by direct sequencing method. Phylogenetic analysis, which was based on the N gene of Brazilian RV isolates identified presently and previously, revealed that RVs isolated from bats were genetically divided into four lineages had a tendency to depend on the host bat species. Rabies viruses (RVs) isolated in Brazil belong to genotype 1 of genus lyssavirus, family Rhabdoviridae. Ito et al. [7,8] reported that main reservoirs of RVs were dogs and vampire bats and that the RVs were classified into dogrelated RVs and vampire bat-related RVs in Brazil. In some areas of Brazil, the rabies outbreaks by both dog-and batrelated RVs occurred at the same time [7]. RVs have been isolated from not only haematophagous bats but also frugivorous and insectivorous bats in Brazil. In Argentina, RVs isolated from frugivorous bats (Artibeus lituratus) were identified to be the variant of RV associated with haematophagous bats by use of the monoclonal antibody panels [4]. Recently we have demonstrated that RVs isolated from Brazilian frugivorous bats (Artibeus spp.) were phylogenetically characterized as the vampire bat-related RV [18].There are many reports of human cases on infection with insectivorous bat RVs, and the number of the cases tend to increase in North America [10][11][12]. In 2002, Favi et al. [5] reported that insectivorous bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) RV variant was isolated from a human patient in Chile. In Colombia and Venezuela insectivorous bat RV variants were also isolated from dogs and cats, which were main RVtransmitters to human [2,14]. Although some kinds of insectivorous bats have been diagnosed as RV-positive in Brazil, there have been no reports of the human case on infection with insectivorous bat RV variants until now. RVpositive insectivorous bats were, however, found in urban areas, and this fact has been considered as important problems in public health [1,6,17,21].As there is little information about the genetic characteristics of bat-related RVs in Brazil, authors determined nucleotide sequences on the N gene of RVs isolated from 9 Brazilian bat species. Phylogenetic analysis was also performed for the epidemiological study with the isolates identified previously. MATERIALS AND METHODS Viruses:In this study, 19 RVs were isolated from 3 haematophagous bats (Desmodus rotundus), 1 frugivorous bat (Artibeus lituratus), 13 insectivorous bats (3 Nyctinomops laticaudatus, 2 Eumops auripendulus, 4 Eptesicus furinalis, 2 Molossus molossus, 1 Molossus abrasus and 1 Molossus rufus) and 2 unclassified bats, and their nucleoprotein gene sequences were determined. Brain materials from these bats were diagnosed as RV-positive by immunofluorescent antibody test (FAT) using a rabbit polyclonal anti-rabies nucle...

ABSTRACT. Seventy-seven rabies virus (RV) isolates originating from Brazilian cattle were genetically characterized. Partial nucleoprotein gene sequences of these isolates were phylogenetically and geographically analyzed. Cattle isolates, which clustered with the vampire bat-related RV group, were further subdivided into nine genetic subgroups. These subgroups were distributed widely in lowland regions, with some subgroups separated from each other by mountain ranges. In addition, separation of the groups in mountainous regions was correlated with altitude. These results indicate that cattle rabies is derived from several regionally-defined variants, which suggests that its geographical distribution is related to that of the vampire bat population. KEY WORDS: cattle, geographical analysis, rabies.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 68(10): 1097-1100, 2006 The rabies virus (RV), which belongs to genotype 1 of the Lyssavirus genus within the Rhabdoviridae family, has an almost global distribution throughout the world. The principal RV reservoirs are known to differ between regions in the areas where the virus occurs, and dogs and vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) are the major known RV vectors in Brazil. Vampire bats, which are widely distributed in Latin America, transmit RV to herbivore species and are recognized as an important RV vector in herbivore rabies [2,3,10]. Vampire bats live in small colonies of 10 to 300 animals and range within an area of activity of between 10 and 20 km 2 [2,14]. During the period of [1993][1994][1995][1996][1997][1998][1999][2000][2001][2002] 31,187 cases of cattle rabies were reported in Latin America, and vampire bat-transmitted RVs have had an economic impact in the livestock industry [4,10]. In this study, to define the epidemiological characteristics of vampire bat-transmitted rabies, we performed a phylogenetic analysis and related the findings to the geographical distribution of 86 vampire bat-transmitted RV isolates from cattle in several states in Brazil.Seventy-seven of the RV isolates were collected from cattle in the city of Brasília, the Federal District, and the states of Goiás, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Rondônia, Pará, São Paulo, and Tocantins between 1998 and 2003 (Table 1). Additionally, nine isolates were collected from cattle (BRbv30, 32, 36, 38, 39, 43, 45, 49, and 50), eight isolates were collected from vampire bats (BRvmbt33, 34, 41, 46 and 47, and BR-DR1-3), and two isolates were collected from dogs (BRdg10 and 12) as described previously [7,8]. All cattle isolates were identified as vampire bat-related RV by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Viral RNA was extracted from the brains of cattle diagnosed as RV positive by both the direct fluorescence antibody test [5] and the mouse inoculation test [9]. RT-PCR was used to amplify nucleoprotein (N) gene sequences of the Brazilian RV strain as described previously [8] using P1/P2 primer pairs. Sequencing was performed using the methods described in our previous study [8]. The 203 nucleotide sequences corresponding ...

ABSTRACT. Genetic and phylogenetic analyses of the region containing the glycoprotein (G) gene, which is related to pathogenicity and antigenicity, and the G-L intergenic region were carried out in 14 Brazilian rabies virus isolates. The isolates were classified as dogrelated rabies virus (DRRV) or vampire bat-related rabies virus (VRRV), by nucleoprotein (N) analysis. The nucleotide and amino acid (AA) homologies of the area containing the G protein gene and G-L intergenic region were generally lower than those of the ectodomain. In both regions, nucleotide and deduced AA homologies were lower among VRRVs than among DRRVs. There were AA differences between DRRV and VRRV at 3 antigenic sites and epitopes (IIa, WB+ and III), suggesting that DRRV and VRRV can be distinguished by differences of antigenicity. In a comparison of phylogenetic trees between the ectodomain and the area containing the G prot ein gene and G-L intergenic region, the branching patterns of the chiropteran and carnivoran rabies virus groups differed, whereas there were clear similarities in patterns within the DRRV and VRRV groups. Additionally, the VRRV isolates were more closely related to chiropteran strains isolated from Latin America than to Brazilian DRRV. These results indicate that Brazilian rabies virus isolates can be classified as DRRV or VRRV by analysis of the G gene and the G-L intergenic region, as well as by N gene analysis.

ABSTRACT. In Latin America, rabies cases related to frugivorous bats have been reported since 1930's. Recently, two viruses isolated from Artibeus lituratus were proved to be vampire bat variants by monoclonal antibodies panels [2], but their genetic information is not well known. In this report, four rabies viruses were isolated from frugivorous bats (Artibeus spp.) in Brazil and their nucleoprotein gene sequences were determined. These isolates were found to be genotype 1 of lyssavirus and showed the maximum nucleotide sequence homology of 97.6-99.4% with vampire bat-related viruses in Brazil [6]. These results indicate that the Brazilian frugivorous bat rabies viruses in this study are closely related to vampire bat-related viruses that play a main role in rabies virus transmission to livestock in Brazil. KEY WORDS: Brazil, frugivorous bat, rabies.

Determinou-se a prevalência de rotavírus durante surto de diarréia em bezerros de um rebanho de corte, criado em regime semi-intensivo de produção. Analisaram-se, por meio de técnicas de eletroforese em gel de poliacrilamida (EGPA) e ensaio imunoenzimático (kit EIARA - Fiocruz), 69 amostras de fezes de bezerros, entre 30 e 60 dias de idade, colhidas em três estações de parição consecutivas (agosto a novembro/1999, janeiro a abril e agosto a novembro/2000). Pelo EIARA foram detectadas 63,8% (44/69) de amostras positivas. Na primeira estação de parição foi detectado rotavírus em 82,4% (14/17) dos bezerros que apresentaram quadro clínico de diarréia. No ano de 2000 a presença de rotavírus foi detectada em 41,7% (5/12) e 62,5% (25/40) do total de amostras examinadas. A análise do perfil eletroforético do genoma indicou grande diversidade, com quatro eletroferótipos distintos, todos com perfil longo, característico de rotavírus do grupo A.

Rotavirus is an important cause of neonatal diarrhea in humans and several animal species, including calves. A study was conducted to examine 792 fecal samples collected from calves among 65 dairy and beef herds distributed in two of Brazil's major livestock producing regions, aiming to detect the occurrence of rotavirus and perform a molecular characterization of the rotavirus according to G and P genotypes in these regions. A total of 40 (5.05%) samples tested positive for rotavirus by the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) technique. The molecular characterization was performed by multiplex semi-nested RT-PCR reactions, which indicated that the associations of genotypes circulating in herds in Brazil's southeastern region were G6P[11], G10P[11], G[-]P[5] + [11], G[-]P[6] in the state of São Paulo and G6P[11], G8P[5], G11P[11], G10P[11] in the state of Minas Gerais. In the central-western region, the genotypes G6P[5] + [11], G6P[5], G8P[-], G6P[11], G [-] P[1], G[-] P[11], and G[-] P[5] were detected in the state of Goiás, while the genotypes G6P[5], G8[P11], G6[P11], G8[P1], G8[P5], G6[P1] were circulating in herds in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The genotypic diversity of bovine rotavirus found in each region under study underlines the importance of characterizing the circulating samples in order to devise the most effective prophylactic measures.

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O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a correspondência entre fatores socioeconômicos de 171 produtores de leite (escolaridade, volume de produção diária e tempo na atividade) de 96 municípios do Estado de São Paulo, e a percepção de risco no uso de produtos veterinários, por meio de entrevista individual e da análise de correspondência múltipla. Produtores com grau de escolaridade fundamental tendem a ordenhar animais tratados com carrapaticidas, não descartar o leite de vacas em tratamento para mastite, não receber bonificação por qualidade e não usar EPIs. Já produtores com grau de instrução superior tendem a declarar que descartam o leite de vacas em tratamento para a mastite, a receber bonificação por qualidade, a participar de treinamento e a usar EPIs. Produtores com menos de 50 litros de leite diários tendem a declarar que não observam o período de carência dos produtos veterinários e são os que mais responderam incorretamente o período de carência de dois produtos empregados na propriedade, vermifugam animais em lactação e não recebem bonificação por qualidade. Produtores com mais de 500 litros de leite diários tendem a declarar que observam o período de carência dos produtos veterinários, tendem a responder corretamente o período de carência de dois produtos, a receber bonificação por qualidade, a participar de treinamento e a usar EPIs. Foi possível evidenciar que dentro das variáveis selecionadas há categorias ou grupos de produtores de leite para os quais o perigo sanitário é mais visível e outros para os quais o perigo é menos visível. Nesse contexto, é necessário e urgente a execução de programas sanitários contemporâneos nas unidades rurais de produção de leite, a atualização dos serviços de assistência técnica e extensão rural (pública e privada), com enfoque distinto e complementar ao atual e o desenvolvimento de ações efetivas de educação sanitária.