Evidencia serológica de infección por Neospora caninum en rebaños lecheros del Sur de Chile

Neospora caninum is a recently recognised parasite that produces infection in dogs and herbivorous. In cows, the disease does not produce clinical signs of illness, instead it produces losses. Chile has a large dairy industry and pregnancy losses in that system seem to be economically important. However a large number of abortions remain with unknown aetiology and abortion due to protozoa has not been investigated. We report here, for the first time, that aborted cows belonging to three different farms in the IX Region, Chile had antibodies to N. Caninumis given here. The episode of abortion was "sporadic" and occurred in adult cows. The sera were diluted in 1:200 and processed with the Neospora IFA test. Whole tachyzoite surface fluorescent was considered positive. Aantibodies were found in 10 of 21 adult cows, none of 2 heifers and 1 of 6 calves in farm A. In farm B, they were found in 7 of 24 adult cows and in 2 of 2 adult cows of farm C. All the aborted cows (2 on farm A; 3 aborted and 1 mummified on farm B; and 2 on farm C) were positive to the test. Taking into consideration the IFA test results and the negativity of serology to other common infections which cause bovine abortion, the hypothesis that these cows aborted due to Neospora infection is supported. How the disease has spread world wide is unknown, but most probably, international animal trade has contributed to help spread the disease. Before any recommendation can be made more extensive studies should be done in order to establish the prevalence and the economic impact of the disease. At the moment evidence that Neospora infection is already present in this country is presented. Therefore it should be included as a differential diagnosis of bovine abortion.Los abortos bovinos causan importantes pérdidas económicas a la ganadería mundial. Una parte importante de ellos permanecen aún con etiología desconocida, y de los diagnosticados, la mayoría corresponden a causas infecciosas. Dentro de ellos los abortos ocasionados por protozoos han tomado relevancia mundial. En Chile hasta ahora se desconocía su presencia. En este trabajo se presenta evidencia que vacas con antecedentes de abortos presentaron anticuerpos contra N. caninum detectados mediante la técnica IFA y se discute la posibilidad de que hayan ocurrido como consecuencia de la infección por este protozo

Detección de anticuerpos séricos contra Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle y Manceaux, 1909) en llamas (Lama glama Linneaus, 1758) y alpacas (Lama pacos Linneaus, 1758 ) de Chile.

Sera samples from 113 Ilamas (Lama glama) and 127 alpacas (Lama pacos) from the IX and V Regions, respectively, of Chile were tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies. The modified agglutination test (MAT) was used in both species and titers 1:25 were considered diagnostically significant based in previously published data. Sera from 49 lamas (43.3%) and 15 alpacas (11.8%) were positive to T. gondii. Percentaje seropositivity in serum dilutions of 1:25, 1:50, 1:500 and 1:5000 was 17.6%; 7.9%; 14.1% and 3.5% in lamas and 0%; 2.3%; 0.7% and 8.6% in alpacas, respectively. The rather low prevalence in alpacas may be associated with geographical conditions, management practices or contacts with cats rather than different species susceptibility. As expected, older animals showed higher reactivity of T. gondii than young animals.Se obtuvieron 113 sueros de llamas y 127 de alpacas de criaderos ubicados en la IX y V Regiones del país respectivamente para determinar la presencia de infección de T. gondii. Para el análisis de los sueros se utilizó el "test" modificado de aglutinación (MAT) a diluciones 1:25; 1:50, 1:500; 1:5000. Del total de 113 sueros de llamas estudiados 49 (43,3%) de ellas presentaron anticuerpos contra T. gondii, mientras que en las alpacas 15 de las 127 (11,8%) fueron positivas. El número de animales positivos en las diluciones 1/25; 1/50; 1/500; 1/5000 fue de 20 (17,6%); 9 (7,9%); 16 (10,6%); 4 (3,5%) en las llamas, respectivamente. En las alpacas los valores fueron de 0 (0%); 3 (2,3%); 1 (0,7%); 11 (8,6%), respectivamente. Aunque no existen antecedentes clínicos de la infección en los establecimientos estudiados, su potencial implicancia en este tipo de patología debería ser considerada a base de los resultados del presente trabajo que demuestra que llamas y alpacas del centro-sur de Chile son reaccionantes a la infección por T. gondii

Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii isolates in free-range chickens from Chile, South America

The prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in free-ranging chickens is a good indicator of the prevalence of T. gondii oocysts in the soil because chickens feed from the ground. The prevalence of T. gondii in 85 free-range chickens (Gallus domesticus) from Chile was determined. Antibodies to T. gondii were assayed by the modified agglutination test (MAT), and found in 47 of 85 (55.3.9%) chickens with titers of 1:5 in six, 1:10 in four, 1:20 in four 1: 40 in three, 1: 80 in nine, 1: 160 in four 1:320 in nine, and 1: 640 or higher in eight. Hearts and brains of 47 chickens with titers of 1:5 or higher were pooled for each chicken and bioassayed in mice. Tissues from 16 seronegative (MAT < 1:5) chickens were pooled and fed to one T. gondii-free cat. Feces of the cat were examined for oocysts but none was found based on bioassay of fecal floats in mice. Hearts and brains from seven seronegative (<1:5) were pooled and bioassayed in mice; T. gondii was not isolated. T. gondii was isolated by bioassay in mice from 22 chickens with MAT titers of 1:20 or higher. Genotyping of these 22 isolates using polymorphisms at the loci SAG1, SAG2, SAG3, BTUB and GRA6 revealed three genotypes. Seventeen isolates had type II alleles and four isolates had type III alleles at all loci. One isolate contained the combination of type I and III alleles. This is the first report of genetic characterization of T. gondii isolates from Chile, South America

Neospora caninum antibodies and risk factors in dogs from Lages and Balneário Camboriú, SC

Identificaram-se os fatores de risco e a ocorrência de anticorpos contra Neospora caninum em cães das cidades de Lages e Balneário Camboriú, SC. Amostras de soro de 400 cães domiciliados (200 de cada município) foram processadas para a detecção de anticorpos contra N. caninum pela técnica de imunofluorescência indireta. Informações acerca dos fatores de risco foram obtidas por meio de questionário. Dos 400 cães, 49 (12,3%) apresentaram anticorpos contra N. caninum. Em Lages, 26 (13%) foram positivos para N. caninume; em Balneário Camboriú, 23 (11,5%). Não foram observadas diferenças estatísticas entre as ocorrências de anticorpos contra N. caninum (P= 0,647) nas duas cidades. Das variáveis analisadas, somente idade apresentou associação (P=0.020, odds ratio= 2.557, IC 95%, 1.16-5.64) com a freqüência de cães reagentes ao N. caninum. Dentre os animais positivos, 41 (83,7%) eram adultos, indicando ocorrência de infecção pós-natal do agente