Serological survey of leptospirosis in horses with historical displacement through different geographic regions in Brazil

Leptospirosis has worldwide occurrence and shows higher incidence in tropical areas. Equines can present several serovars according to geographic region and it is important analyze de possible contribution of animal displacement on the Leptospira spp. strains occurrence. This research aimed to conduct a serological investigation in an equine regiment belonging to the Brazilian Army Guard Cavalry, resident in an urban area of Rio de Janeiro municipality, but with history of displacement between different regions in Brazil. A microscopic agglutination test was performed in a serum bank of 197 horses using 29 Leptospira spp. strains. The test showed 94.92% positivity, with 90.36% of the animals presenting a positive result for two or more serovars. Higher titers (?1:400) could be detected in 54.31% of horses for at least one serovar, whereas seropositivity for more than one bacterial type occurred mostly at lower titers (<1:400). All animals were clinically healthy. Occurrence of serogroup Icterohaemorraghiae in urban areas was confirmed; however, equine serovars Bratislava and Australis presented low frequencies. The serovars Hardjo, Wolffi, and Canicola were detected, and indicated the presence of ruminants and dogs as reservoirs in proximity in some of the places frequented by the animals. It is suggested that travel history has contributed to the high frequency found and a possible greater contact with different types of Leptospira spp. Therefore, veterinarians should consider the history of geographic displacement and other animal species coexistence with horses when conducting their clinical investigation

Serological survey of leptospirosis in horses with historical displacement through different geographic regions in Brazil

Leptospirosis has worldwide occurrence and shows higher incidence in tropical areas. Equines can present several serovars according to geographic region and it is important analyze de possible contribution of animal displacement on the Leptospira spp. strains occurrence. This research aimed to conduct a serological investigation in an equine regiment belonging to the Brazilian Army Guard Cavalry, resident in an urban area of Rio de Janeiro municipality, but with history of displacement between different regions in Brazil. A microscopic agglutination test was performed in a serum bank of 197 horses using 29 Leptospira spp. strains. The test showed 94.92% positivity, with 90.36% of the animals presenting a positive result for two or more serovars. Higher titers (?1:400) could be detected in 54.31% of horses for at least one serovar, whereas seropositivity for more than one bacterial type occurred mostly at lower titers (&lt;1:400). All animals were clinically healthy. Occurrence of serogroup Icterohaemorraghiae in urban areas was confirmed; however, equine serovars Bratislava and Australis presented low frequencies. The serovars Hardjo, Wolffi, and Canicola were detected, and indicated the presence of ruminants and dogs as reservoirs in proximity in some of the places frequented by the animals. It is suggested that travel history has contributed to the high frequency found and a possible greater contact with different types of Leptospira spp. Therefore, veterinarians should consider the history of geographic displacement and other animal species coexistence with horses when conducting their clinical investigation.Leptospirosis has a worldwide occurrence and shows higher incidence in tropical areas. Equines can present several serovars according to geographic region and it is important to analyze the possible contribution of animal displacement on the Leptospira spp. strains occurrence. This research aimed to conduct a serological investigation in an equine regiment belonging to the Brazilian Army Guard Cavalry, resident in an urban area of Rio de Janeiro municipality, but with a history of displacement between different regions in Brazil. A microscopic agglutination test was performed in a serum bank of 197 horses using 29 Leptospira spp. strains. The test showed 94.92% positivity, with 89.84% of the animals presenting a positive result for two or more serovars. Higher titers (?1:400) could be detected in 57.22% of horses for at least one serovar, whereas seropositivity for more than one bacterial type occurred mostly at lower titers (&lt;1:400). All animals were clinically healthy. The occurrence of serogroup Icterohaemorraghiae in urban areas was confirmed; however, equine serovars Bratislava and Australis presented low frequencies. The serovars Hardjo, Wolffi, and Canicola were detected and indicated the presence of ruminants and dogs as typical reservoirs in proximity to the equines. It is suggested that travel history has contributed to the high frequency found and possible greater contact with different types of Leptospira spp. Therefore, veterinarians should consider the history of geographic displacement and other animal species’ coexistence with horses when conducting their clinical investigation

Roedores e marsupiais capturados no Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, Rio de Janeiro: distribuição e relação com o ambiente

No Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, Rio de Janeiro, durante 24 meses, foram feitas captura, inspeção, liberação, e foi avaliada a distribuição dos 64 roedores e 96 marsupiais capturados entre 150 e 600m de altitude, relacionando com fatores ambientes. Foi avaliada a regeneração da cobertura vegetal, e do entorno, considerada constituída basicamente por vegetação secundária. Entre os marsupiais a dominância foi de Didelphis aurita, e entre os roedores foi de Guerlinguetus ingrami. A correlação entre o número de roedores capturados e as cotas altitudinais, apesar de positiva, foi não significativa, e, para os marsupiais, foi negativa e também não significativa. Palavras-chave: Marsupiais; Roedores; Mata Atlântica

Ixodidae fauna of small rodents and marsupials in the Pedra Branca State Park, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ABSTRACT. de Oliveira H.H., Quinelato I.P. de F., Gomes V., Amorim M., Gazêta G.S., Serra-Freire N.M., Morelli-Amaral V., da Silva A.B., de Carvalho R.W. & de Carvalho A.G. [Ixodidae fauna of small rodents and marsupials in the Pedra Branca State Park, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.] Ixodofauna em roedores e marsupiais capturados no Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Medicina Veterinária, 36(2):137-143, 2014. Laboratório de Referência Nacional para Vetores das Riquetsioses, Fiocruz, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21040-360, Brasil [email protected] During 24 months, 96 marsupials and 64 rodents were captured, inspected and cleared in the same space of the Pedra Branca State Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Them, manually 105 ticks were collected from 10 species in two families. The dominant tick species among rodents was Amblyomma longirostre and among the marsupials was Ixodes loricatus. There was a significant correlation between temperature and tick infestations by demonstrating that higher temperature, greater is the number of ticks