Molecular characterization of ureaplasmas isolated from reproductive tract of goats and sheep from Brazil

Abstract Ovine/caprine ureaplasmas have not yet been assigned a species designation, but they have been classified into nine serotypes. Herein ureaplasmas were searched for in 120 samples of vulvo vaginal mucous from sheep and 98 samples from goats at 17 farms. In addition, semen samples were collected from 11 sheep and 23 goats. The recovered ureaplasma were from sheep and goats from animals without any reproductive disorder symptoms, but not all animals presented positive cultures. In sheep, 17 (68%) cultures of vulvovaginal mucous were positive for ureaplasma and 11 (27%) samples of semen presented positive cultures in animals with clinical signs of orchitis, balanoposthitis or low sperm motility. In goats four ureaplasma isolates were obtained from vulvovaginal mucus, but the semen samples were all negative. The isolates were submitted to Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis methodology and their 16S rRNA genes were sequenced. Fifty percent of ureaplasma recovered from sheep allowed for PFGE typing. Eleven isolates showed eight profiles genetically close to the bovine ureaplasmas. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed differences or similarities of isolates from sheep and goats, and the reference strains of bovine and human ureaplasma. Four clinical isolates from sheep were grouped separately. The studied ureaplasma isolates showed to be a diverse group of mollicutes.

Soroepidemiologia da toxoplasmose e avaliaçäo ocular pela Tela de Amsler, em pacientes da zona rural, atendidos na unidade de saúde do município de Jaguapitä, PR, Brasil / Seroepidemiology of toxoplasmosis and ocular evaluation by Amsler Grid in patients from the rural area treated at the Jaguapitä county health center, Paraná State, Brazil

O objetivo do trabalho foi avaliar a soroepidemiologia do T. gondii e relato de problemas oculares em pacientes da zona rural que procuraram a unidade de saúde de Jaguapitä, Paraná. Soros de 82 pacientes foram submetidos a reaçäo de Imunofluorescência Indireta, para detectar a presença de anticorpos anti-T. gondii da classe IgG, sendo a soropositividade considerada para diluiçöes >/= 1:16. Problemas oculares foram avaliados através da Tela de Amsler. Dos 82 soros avaliados 68 (82,9 por cento) foram sororeagentes a toxoplasmose e 14 (17,1 por cento) näo reagentes. Os títulos mais freqüentes foram de 64 (23/33,8 por cento) e 256 (16/23,5 por cento), e os maiores títulos foram de 4096 (8/11,8 por cento). O teste da Tela de Amsler revelou 22 (26,8 por cento) pacientes que relataram algum tipo de alteraçäo, sendo que o sexo masculino foi um fator de proteçäo em relaçäo ao sexo feminino (OR = 0,21 0,04 < OR < 0,86 X² = 4,98 p = 0,02). No presente estudo os fatores de risco avaliados pelo inquérito sócio cultural e epidemiológico näo revelaram diferenças estatísticas significativas. Através do presente trabalho observou-se que o T. gondii encontra-se amplamente distribuído na populaçäo estudada