Spatial distribution of bovine cysticercosis—A retrospective study in Brazil from 2010 through 2015

Abstract

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is frequently used in the control of animal diseases. In Brazil, the most impacting economical loss in the beef supply chain is bovine cysticercosis. This study focused on assessing the prevalence and geospatial distribution of bovine cysticercosis in 19 Brazilian states. To this, we gathered data from 146,346,244 bovines slaughtered between the years of 2010 and 2015. The observed prevalence was 0.62% (C.I. 0.62-0.63). In total, 30.86% cysticerci were viable, while 69.14% were unviable. Bovine cysticercosis cases had a significant decrease (p<0.05) during this period. The states of Paraná (2.01%; C.I. 2.00-2.02), Santa Catarina (1.96%; C.I. 1.93-2.00), São Paulo (1.77%; C.I. 1.76-1.77), Rio Grande do Sul (1.63%; C.I. 1.60-1.63) and Mato Grosso do Sul (0.80%; C.I. 0.80-0.80) had the highest prevalence values. In some states a significant (p<0.05) decreasing trend was detected in the prevalence. In conclusion, Taenia-saginata-cysticercosis remains endemic in Brazil and interventions are necessary to maintain Brazilian beef competitive in the international food market and improve food safety to population.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of bovine cysticercosis in Brazil: current knowledge and way forward

“…A set of 42 peer-reviewed published articles containing prevalence values (Additional file 2: Table S2) [7,11, and one describing the incidence of BCC in areas in Brazil was found in literature [59]. From these articles, we identified two articles [11,26] describing BCC prevalence in several Brazilian states, covering a long period and including a large sample size.…”

“…A set of 42 peer-reviewed published articles containing prevalence values (Additional file 2: Table S2) [7,11, and one describing the incidence of BCC in areas in Brazil was found in literature [59]. From these articles, we identified two articles [11,26] describing BCC prevalence in several Brazilian states, covering a long period and including a large sample size. In addition, we found 12 articles containing information about the spatial distribution of BCC inside/within the states (Table 1), 13 articles describing risk factors or variables associated with BCC occurrence ( Table 2) and 4 describing the economic burden of BCC [7,22,28,30].…”

“…The observed prevalence within these states varied between 2.8-3.7% in 2007 [26]. Although the prevalence in these five states decreased to 1.3-1.5% in 2015 [11], they remained the highest among the different states. In Pará, Alagoas, Amazonas and Tocantins, the prevalence remained below 0.5% throughout the entire study period (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015).…”

“…Only two studies using post-mortem inspection [11,26] included animals from several Brazilian states and sampled a high number of animals (75,983,590 and 146,346,244 animals, respectively) covering a long period (more than three years). Dutra et al [26] included animals from Acre, Alagoas, Amazonas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe and Tocantins from 2007 to April 2010, while Rossi et al [11] studied the period from 2010 to 2015 using animals from the same states except for Alagoas. These studies were used to evaluate the occurrence of BCC over time.…”

“…The cattle population size is estimated at 214.9 million of animals and the country exported 1.64 million of tons of beef in 2018; the highest amount ever exported among all exporting countries [9,10]. BCC remains endemic in Brazil, with frequent detection during meat inspection resulting in a high economic burden for the beef sector [11]. Considering the very low sensitivity of meat inspection [12], a significant number of viable cysticerci will still reach the consumer through infected beef.…”