The aim of this paper was to study some epidemiological aspects of the infection by Brucella abortus in risk occupational groups in the microregion of Araguaína, Tocantins. For antibody research, 645 serum samples were analyzed by the complement fixation test (CF). A 4.0% frequency was found (26/645) in patients' serum and among those 4.1% (23/551) were slaughterhouses employees and 8.1% (3/37) rural workers. Of the total positive samples, three (2.0%) were women and 23 (4.7%) men; ten (2.9%) were between the ages of 18 and 30, six (3.4%) between 31 and 40, and nine (8.0%) were above 41 years of age. Risk factors for brucellosis in the study groups were age, background (OR = 2.45; CI 95% = 0.98 to 6.10) and previous work conducted with production animals (OR 2.36; CI 95% = 0.95 to 6.02). It was concluded that the infection by Brucella abortus is found in some risk occupational groups in the microregion of Araguaína, Tocantins, and control and prophylactic measures must be implemented emphasizing risk factors identified in the study.
Talisia esculenta, commonly known as pitombeira, is a tree which fruits are widely consumed by human beings in northeastern Brazil. The aim of this work is to describe the epidemiological, clinical and pathological aspects of two outbreaks of spontaneous poisoning by T. esculenta in cattle in the dry region of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil. The cases occurred in the municipalities of São Bento do Una and Belo Jardim. From a total of 25 adult cattle, eight become sick after ingest T. esculenta leaves and fruits. Four cattle died until 72 hours after the first clinical signs; which consisted in ataxia, reluctance to walk, tottering, head tremors muscle spasms in the limbs, rigidity of the pelvic limbs with wide base stance position, ruminal atony and, when stressed, presented falls and remained in abnormal positions. Two cattle were necropsied; the only significant finding was the presence of partially digested leaves, barks and seeds of T. esculenta in ruminal contents. Microscopically no lesions were observed. There is no specific therapy for poisoning by T. esculenta leaves. Prophylaxis consists in preventing cattle from gaining access to pasture areas containing the plant.
Enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL) is an infectious disease of cosmopolitan distribution and chronic character caused by a virus of the Retroviridae family, bovine leukemia virus (BLV). The epidemiological situation of EBL in Brazil has motivated studies to improve its diagnosis, based on the recommended serological techniques: agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). This study was designed to evaluate the use of imported ELISA for the detection of BLV in dairy herds raised in Pernambuco, Brazil, comparing it to AGID. Blood serum samples from 327 dairy cattle from the state of Pernambuco were tested to AGID and the imported commercial ELISA CHEKIT-Leucose-serum, produced by the IDEXX® laboratory for the diagnosis of EBL. Discarding 25 inconclusive samples from one or both tests, 302 samples were analyzed, being 24.1% positive (73/302) in the AGID and 45% (136/302) in the ELISA, which compared to the AGID, a technique considered standard, presented sensitivity of 98.6%, specificity of 72% and Kappa coefficient of 0.55. The lack of agreement in the diagnostic methods was probably due to the high sensitivity of the ELISA, which makes it possible to detect antibodies even in situations with low serum levels. Although AGID has been shown to be an efficient test so far, in more advanced stages of an EBL control and eradication program, with low prevalence rates, ELISA will present better performance, due to its higher sensitivity, avoiding the permanence of animals that spread the disease in the herds.
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