Seroprevalence and spatial distribution dynamics of Yersinia pestis antibodies in dogs and cats from plague foci in the State of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Introduction:In Brazil, the plague is established in several foci located mainly in the northeastern part of the country, where it alternates between active and quiescent periods. These foci in the State of Ceará have high epidemiological importance. In addition to other plague detection activities, plague areas can be monitored through serological surveys of dogs and cats (domestic carnivores), which, following feeding on plague-infected rodents, can develop mild to severe forms of the disease and produce long-lasting antibodies. This study aimed to characterize the circulation dynamics and spatial distribution of Yersinia pestis antibodies in dogs and cats in plague foci areas of Ceará. Methods: An ecological study was conducted to analyze the temporal series and spatial distribution of secondary data obtained from domestic carnivore serum surveillance in Ceará's plague areas from 1990 to 2014. Results: Joinpoint analysis revealed that the overall trend was a reduction in antibody-positive animals. The mean proportion of antibody-positivity during the whole study period was 1.5% (3,023/203,311) for dogs, and 0.7% (426/61,135) for cats, with more than 4% antibody-positivity in dogs in 1997 and 2002. Antibody titers ranging from 1/16 to 1/64 were frequent. Despite fluctuations and a significant reduction, in recent years, there were antibody-positive animals annually throughout the study period, and the localities containing antibody-positive animals increased in number. Conclusion: Yersinia pestis is actively circulating in the study areas, posing a danger to the human population.

Spatiotemporal analysis of bubonic plague in Pernambuco, northeast of Brazil: Case study in the municipality of Exu

“…In the Agreste mesoregion, the highest number of positive cases was registered in the municipalities of Bom Conselho (20), Cachoeirinha (13) and Panelas (11) and other 31 municipalities registered one to 10 plague-positive cases. These municipalities are located in the Planalto da Borborema, another focal plague area involved in the 1961-1976 epidemics in the state of Pernambuco.…”

“…The activities of the infection in these foci are independent in time and space [9]; after several successive outbreaks of varied sizes until the decade of 1980, cases in Brazil decreased and the last confirmed human case was in 2005 [12,13]. Despite its current quiescent state, we must remain vigilant and maintain rigorous epidemiological surveillance.…”

A new multi-species Protein A-ELISA assay for plague diagnosis in humans and other mammal hosts

“…Therefore, serological testing is of most importance for plague diagnosis and surveillance activities, as it can detect not only active infections in humans and other hosts, but also retrospectively identify individuals exposed to the bacteria [9,10]. In this scenario, serological surveillance must consider a wide variety of mammals to be tested, such as rodents and other small mammals, domestic (dogs and cats) and wild carnivores that pray on rodents [5,12,21,22,24].…”

“…The copyright holder for this this version posted September 23, 2021. ; https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.09.21.21263536 doi: medRxiv preprint evaluate the agreement between the Protein A and IgG methods in ELISA. All sera were kindly provided by the Brazilian Plague Reference Service (SRP) and originated from the routine surveillance of the Brazilian plague areas including human cases, several rodent species and domestic carnivores (stray dogs) that pray on rodents [21,22].…”

Peste, uma zoonose esquecida

“…Esses focos são remanescentes da introdução da infecção pelo porto de Santos, SP durante a última pandemia em 1899 (figura 1). Até a década de 1980, ocorriam surtos a cada 5 -10 anos, que eram entremeados por períodos variáveis de quiescência 4 ; porém, a maioria das áreas focais não apresenta notificações há mais de 50 anos, apesar da detecção da circulação da Yersinia pestis, o seu agente etiológico, em animais sentinela 5,6 . Desde 2005, casos suspeitos isolados são notificados, mas todos eles têm sido, sistematicamente, descartados laboratorialmente 5,6 .…”