The prevalence and spatial epidemiology of cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle from Brazil

Abstract

Bovine cysticercosis is a disease that is endemic in several countries with an important zoonotic potential but with an increasing public health concern. The meat inspection at slaughterhouses is fundamental to establish the prevalence and prevention of zoonotic diseases, such as cysticercosis. However, in Brazil, there is no study investigating the dynamics of cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle from the entire country. Thus, the aim was to use Geographic Information System (GIS) as a tool to analyze the prevalence of bovine cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle, by using the data from slaughterhouses inspected by the Federal Inspection Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (SIF/MAPA), during January/2007 to April/2010. Data from slaughtered cattle was used to generate a bovine cysticercosis database for all states and municipalities of Brazil, in order to analyze and create epidemiological maps using the GIS software. During the period analyzed, 75.983.590 cattle were slaughtered and the prevalence of bovine cysticercosis in Brazil was 1.05%, with the Southeast region presenting the majority of cases. The highest amount of bovine cysticercosis cases occurred in the state of São Paulo (400,834) followed by Mato Grosso do Sul (151,735), and Paraná (94,046), while there was no observation of occurrence in nine states. The data provided by slaughterhouses inspected by The SIF/ MAPA can be used as an informative source for animal and public health agencies for the prevention of the taeniasis/cysticercosis complex. This study elucidates the importance of meat inspection associated with epidemiological maps, targeting the disease control in livestock and the active surveillance for potential zoonotic human infection. Data from this study suggest bovine cysticercosis is endemic in several Brazilian states, and the risk of infection is directly related with the principal areas of commercial cattle rearing, irrespective of the demographics of the human population. ResumoCisticercose bovina é uma doença endêmica em vários países com um importante potencial zoonótico e uma crescente importância na saúde pública. A inspecção da carne nos matadouros é fundamental para estabelecer a prevalência e prevenção de doenças zoonóticas, tais como a cisticercose. No entanto, no Brasil, não há estudo que tenha investigado a dinâmica da cisticercose em bovinos abatidos em todo o país. Assim, o presente estudo teve como objetivo usar Sistema de Informação Geográfica (GIS) como uma ferramenta para analisar a prevalência de cisticercose bovina em bovinos, usando os dados de matadouros inspecionados pelo Serviço de Inspeção Federal do Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (SIF/MAPA), no período de janeiro de 2007 a abril de 2010. As informações de bovinos abatidos foram usadas para gerar um banco de dados sobre cisticercose bovina para todos os estados e municípios do Brasil, a fim de analisar e criar mapas epidemiológicos usando o software GIS. Durante o período analisado, 75.983.590 bovinos for...

Hydatidosis, cysticercosis, and tuberculosis rates in bovine slaughtered under state sanitary inspection in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

“…The higher prevalence in these regions can both be associated with epidemiological factors or considered a consequence of the greater number of studies available from these regions due to the importance of cattle breeding in these areas. A more comprehensive study evaluating 75,983,590 cattle slaughtered between the years 2007 and 2012, and inspected under the Federal Inspection Service, demonstrated that the national prevalence of the disease in cattle was 1.05% (DUTRA et al, 2012).…”

Bovine cysticercosis in slaughtered cattle as an indicator of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and epidemiological risk factors

“…Among the diseases that are monitored in the health surveillance of cattle herds is cysticercosis, which is widely distributed in Brazil (Dutra et al, 2012), and is the most common disease detected during bovine post-mortem inspections (Almeida et al, 2006). Deschamps et al (2013) recommend the adoption of GAP as a tool for the prevention of bovine cysticercosis, since they found that the occurrence of this disease was reduced on farms where these practices were adopted.…”

Geospatial distribution and risk factors for bovine cysticercosis in the state of Rondônia, Brazil

“…0.013-0.014) is lower than other established in several other Brazilian states, such as São Paulo (2.92%), Minas Gerais (1.81%), Goiás (0.71%), Mato Grosso do Sul (1.11%) (Rossi et al 2015), Paraná (2.23%) (Guimarães-Peixoto et al 2012), Espiríto Santo (1.02%) (Avelar et al 2016) and Mato Grosso (0.0873%) (Rossi et al 2016). Other paper published regarding bovine cysticercosis prevalence in the same state, showed a prevalence of 0.07% (4,420/6,239,172) through the years 2007 to 2010 (Dutra et al 2012), enforcing the theory that a reduction in the prevalence might be ongoing in this state.…”

“…Even though the disease presents worldwide distribution, the highest prevalence rates are present in developing and underdeveloped countries (OIE 2008), such as Brazil (Dutra et al 2012). Scientific studies in several different brazilian states such as Paraná (Guimarães-Peixoto et al 2012), Espiríto Santo (Avelar et al 2016), Mato Grosso (Rossi et al 2016) and Bahia (Bavia et al 2012), have been performed in order to improve the understanding regarding bovine cysticercosis epidemiology and perpetration in Brazil.…”