Prevalência e fatores de risco para a leptospirose e brucelose na população canina da Estância Turística de Ibiúna, São Paulo, Brasil

Canine Brucellosis: An Update

Canine brucellosis is an infectious and zoonotic disease caused by Brucella canis, which has been reported worldwide, and is a major public health concern due to close contact between dogs and humans. In dogs, canine brucellosis manifests with abortion outbreaks, reproductive failure, enlargement of lymph nodes, and occasionally affects the osteoarticular system, although the occurrence of asymptomatic infections in dogs are not uncommon. In humans, the disease is associated with a febrile syndrome, commonly with non-specific symptoms including splenomegaly, fatigue, and weakness. Infection of dogs occurs mostly by the oronasal route when in contact with contaminated tissues such as aborted fetuses, semen, urine, and vaginal secretions. In humans, contact with contaminated fluids from infected dogs is an important source of infection, and it is an occupational risk for veterinarians, breeders, laboratory workers, among other professionals who deal with infected animals or biological samples. The diagnosis in dogs is largely based on serologic methods. However, serologic diagnosis of canine brucellosis remains very challenging due to the low accuracy of available tests. Molecular diagnostic methods have been increasingly used in the past few years. Treatment of infected dogs is associated with a high frequency of relapse, and should be employed only in selected cases. Currently there are no commercially available vaccines for prevention of canine brucellosis. Therefore, development of novel and improved diagnostic methods as well as the development of efficacious and safe vaccination protocols are needed for an effective control of canine brucellosis and its associated zoonotic risk.

Occurrence of anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies in Rhipidomys spp. from a forest fragment of the Brazilian Cerrado

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease of world importance, and its transmission depends on the interaction between humans and animals. Given the necessity to investigate potential hosts of Leptospira spp., this study verified the prevalence of different serovars in the species of Rhipidomys spp., a widespread sigmodont rodent in Brazil. The studied population originates from a semi-evergreen forest located in the county of Uberlândia, in the state of Minas Gerais. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was performed with 14 serovars. Thirteen out of the 43 wild rodents captured showed a positive agglutination reaction, with a greater prevalence of the serovars Pyrogenes, Copenhageni, and Canicola. This study found a prevalence of 30.3% anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies; all positive animals were reactive to more than one serovar.