Ticks and fleas in crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) of Pernambuco state, Brazil

This study aimed to identify the species of fleas and ticks of Cerdocyon thous from the state of Pernambuco. Animals (n = 20) were examined, with 30% (6/20) ectoparasitized. Fleas (n = 16) and ticks (n = 17) parasitizing free-living crab-eating fox and captive in state of Pernambuco were collected. The fleas were identified as: Pulex irritans and Ctenocephalides felis; and the ticks were: Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato and Amblyomma ovale. The presence of ectoparasites of domestic animals parasitizing C. thous, suggests a close contact of this species to the peridomicile. Furthermore, this is the first report of the occurrence of A. ovale in C. thous in northeastern Brazil. Objetivou-se identificar as espécies de pulgas e carrapatos de Cerdocyon thous provenientes do estado Pernambuco. Foram examinados 20 animais, estando 30% (6/20) ectoparasitados. Foram coletadas 16 pulgas e 17 carrapatos em cachorros-do-mato de vida livre e de cativeiro no estado de Pernambuco. As pulgas foram identificadas como: Pulex irritans e Ctenocephalides felis; e os carrapatos foram: Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato e Amblyomma ovale. A presença de ectoparasitos de animais domésticos parasitando C. thous, sugere a aproximação de indivíduos desta espécie ao peridomicílio. Além disso, este é o primeiro relato da ocorrência de A. ovale em C. thous no nordeste brasileiro

Acaricide potencial of andiroba (Carapa guianensis Aubl.) oil on engorged adult females of Anocentor nitens (Neumann, 1897) and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Latreille, 1806)

In vitro acaricide potential of the oil from andiroba seed (Carapa guianensis) was evaluated on engorged females of Anocentor nitens (n=210) and Rhipicephalus sanguineus (n=140) manually collected, from horses and dogs naturally infested, respectively. Five dilutions, 100%, 50%, 30%, 25%, and 10% of andiroba seed oil in deionized water, using tween 80 as dispersant, were employed for the engorged females immersion test. For A. nitens test, three repetitions were made with each dilution, using 10 engorged females for each treatment, and two repetitions for R. sanguineus test. Two control groups were used for each tick species, one with deionized water and another one with tween 80 and deionized water. After the tests, the females were kept in the laboratory under room temperature. Engorged female mortality and oviposition reduction were observed with infertile eggs, showing 100% of efficacy in the two species in all tested dilutions. The obtained data demonstrated the potential use of andiroba seed extract against A. nitens and R. sanguineus.Avaliou-se o potencial acaricida in vitro do óleo da semente da andiroba (Carapa guianensis) sobre fêmeas ingurgitadas de Anocentor nitens (n=210) e Rhipicephalus sanguineus (n=140), coletadas manualmente, respectivamente, de equinos e de cães naturalmente infestados. Para o teste de imersão, empregaram-se cinco diluições do óleo de andiroba, 100%, 50%, 30%, 25% e 10%, em água destilada, utilizando-se tween 80 como dispersante. No teste com A. nitens, foram usadas três repetições para cada diluição, utilizando-se 10 fêmeas ingurgitadas para cada tratamento. No teste com R. sanguineus, usaram-se duas repetições, e formaram-se, ainda, dois grupos-controle para cada espécie de ixodídeo, um com água destilada e outro com tween 80 mais água destilada. Após os testes, as fêmeas foram mantidas em laboratório sob temperatura ambiente. Observou-se mortalidade das fêmeas ingurgitadas e redução de postura, neste caso, com ovos inférteis, demonstrando eficácia de 100% nas duas espécies em todas as diluições testadas. Os dados obtidos evidenciaram a potencialidade do uso do extrato de andiroba contra A. nitens e R. sanguineus

Equine Rabies in the Southern Region of Piauí State

Background: Rabies is an infectious disease that is important in the "One Health" worldwide with high lethality rate. The etiological agent is a neurotropic virus, genus Lyssavirus, transmitted mainly through the saliva of infected animals. For equines, the bite of hematophagous bats is the main source of infection. Piauí is an important state for equestrian sports and the increase in the number of horses with neurological clinical signs without diagnosis has increased in recent years. In this context, the aim of this study is to report to the scientific community a confirmed case of equine rabies in the Santa Luz county, Southernmost state of Piauí, Brazil.Case: A 3-year-old female non-defined breed horse, was admitted to the Hospital Veterinário da Universidade Federal do Piauí (UFPI/CPCE). The equine had difficulty walking 2 days ago, in the panoramic inspection was restless and disoriented in the paddock. Rectal temperature of 38.2oC, heart rate of 60 bpm, respiratory rate of 40 mpm, congested mucosa and dyspnea were verified. With the progression of the neurological signals, it positioned itself in a lateral decubitus with pedaling movements, hyperesthesia, dysphagia and paralysis of the hindlimbs. The clinical suspicion was rabies and the Agência de Defesa Agropecuária do Piauí (ADAPI) was communicated to euthanize the animal and collect samples for diagnosis in accordance with official standards of the Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA). At necropsy, there was slight brain hyperemia, with no other significant organ changes. Fragments of the cerebellum, cortex, hippocampus and spinal cord were collected and sent at a temperature of 4oC to perform the Direct Immunofluorescence (DIF) assay. Samples for histopathology were not collected because they do not include assay for confirmatory diagnosis of rabies. The DIF technique with antigen-labeled antibodies were performed in the imprint lamina of these fragments. The fragments were treated according to specific protocol. The results were negative for DIF in the collected equine fragments. For complementary exam, the samples were homogenized, clarified and inoculated intracranial in BALB/C mice, being observed for up to 30 days. The samples were positive after the bioassay.Discussion: Piauí is a state with great equestrian activity that expose the animals to the risks of transmission of infectious diseases. Among these diseases, rabies is important for affecting horses, but also humans (veterinarians and owners). In the present report, the equine showed clinical signs of furious rabies for a short period, rapidly evolving to paralytic form. This clinical aspect must be carefully evaluated by the veterinarian, in order to avoid false clinical suspicions such as tetanus or other non-infectious diseases. The official diagnosis of the rabies is DIF technique, with high sensitive (80-100%). According to the results of the DIF technique, it was possible to confirm the clinical suspicion of rabies in mice previously inoculated with emulsion of fragments of the equine central nervous system (CNS). This fact demonstrates that in negative results for CNS samples from the horse, the bioassay increases the sensitivity of the test and avoids false negative diagnoses. Thus, it was possible to prove that rabies is affecting the equines in the southern region of Piauí state and alerts the breeders and the community to intensify surveillance and control of the hematophagous bats. For the authors, this is the first scientific report of rabies in the region studied

EFICÁCIA DA MOXIDECTINA, IVERMECTINA E ALBENDAZOLE CONTRA HELMINTOS GASTRINTESTINAIS EM PROPRIEDADES DE CRIAÇÃO CAPRINA E OVINA NO ESTADO DE PERNAMBUCO

valiou-se a eficácia de produtos anti-helmínticos à base de moxidectina, ivermectina e albendazole em propriedades de criação caprina e ovina, localizadas em municípios pertencentes ao estado de Pernambuco. Os animais eram de ambos os sexos, idades e raças variadas, criados em sistema semi-intensivo e intensivo. A eficácia dos produtos foi avaliada pelo teste de redução do número de ovos por grama de fezes e calculada pela fórmula: %eficácia = 1- [(OPG médio pós-tratamento/OPG médio antes do tratamento)] x 100, indicando ineficácia com índice inferior a 95%. A moxidectina mostrou-se eficiente tanto em propriedade de criação caprina como ovina, a ivermectina apresentou melhor desempenho nos ovinos, enquanto o albendazole não foi eficaz para nenhuma das duas espécies. O gênero Haemonchus foi o mais prevalente nas coproculturas. PALAVRAS-CHAVES: Anti-helmíntico, caprino, ovino, Pernambuco, resistência

Occurrence of natural infection by Giardia sp. in goats and sheep reared in extensive system in cerrado of Piauí, Brazil / Ocorrência da infecção natural por Giardia sp. em caprinos e ovinos criados em sistema extensivo no cerrado do Piauí, Brasil

The present study aimed to identify natural infection by Giardia sp. in fecal samples collected from goats and sheep raised in an extensive system in the Cerrado biome of Piauí, Brazil. Two hundred fecal samples from goats and sheep (100 for each species) were collected from 6 properties located in the municipality of Bom Jesus, Piauí, Brazil. In addition, data regarding properties and animals, including species, age, sex, and identification number, were collected. The samples were processed using the centrifugal-flotation technique in zinc sulfate and analyzed using optical microscopy (magnification 40×). Of the 200 samples analyzed, 70 (35%) were positive for Giardia sp., with goats exhibiting an absolute and relative frequency of 37/100 (37%) and adult females being more affected (25/62 [40.32%]), while 33/100 (33%) sheep were positive, with greater positivity also observed in adult females (17/55 [30.90%]). Results of this study demonstrate for what is to our knowledge the first time that goats and sheep raised extensively are exposed to infection by Giardia sp. in Bom Jesus, Piauí. This is also presumably the first report to describe giardiasis in goats and sheep in the state of Piauí, Brazil

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution

Geographic patterns of tree dispersal modes in Amazonia and their ecological correlates

Aim: To investigate the geographic patterns and ecological correlates in the geographic distribution of the most common tree dispersal modes in Amazonia (endozoochory, synzoochory, anemochory and hydrochory). We examined if the proportional abundance of these dispersal modes could be explained by the availability of dispersal agents (disperser-availability hypothesis) and/or the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits (resource-availability hypothesis). Time period: Tree-inventory plots established between 1934 and 2019. Major taxa studied: Trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 9.55 cm. Location: Amazonia, here defined as the lowland rain forests of the Amazon River basin and the Guiana Shield. Methods: We assigned dispersal modes to a total of 5433 species and morphospecies within 1877 tree-inventory plots across terra-firme, seasonally flooded, and permanently flooded forests. We investigated geographic patterns in the proportional abundance of dispersal modes. We performed an abundance-weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD) test and fit generalized linear models (GLMs) to explain the geographic distribution of dispersal modes. Results: Anemochory was significantly, positively associated with mean annual wind speed, and hydrochory was significantly higher in flooded forests. Dispersal modes did not consistently show significant associations with the availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits. A lower dissimilarity in dispersal modes, resulting from a higher dominance of endozoochory, occurred in terra-firme forests (excluding podzols) compared to flooded forests. Main conclusions: The disperser-availability hypothesis was well supported for abiotic dispersal modes (anemochory and hydrochory). The availability of resources for constructing zoochorous fruits seems an unlikely explanation for the distribution of dispersal modes in Amazonia. The association between frugivores and the proportional abundance of zoochory requires further research, as tree recruitment not only depends on dispersal vectors but also on conditions that favour or limit seedling recruitment across forest types