Seroprevalence of antibodies to Neospora caninum in dogs in the state of Alagoas, Brazil / Soroprevalência de anticorpos anti-Neospora caninum em cães no estado de Alagoas, Brasil

This study investigated occurrences of antibodies to anti-Neospora caninum in dogs in the state of Alagoas, Brazil, and the risk factors associated with the infection. To investigate antibodies against N. caninum, an indirect immunofluorescence antibody test (IFAT) was used. To identify risk factors associated with infection by N. caninum, univariate analyses on variables of interest were conducted. The study analyzed 237 samples from dogs of both sexes and different breeds and ages, both from rural and from urban areas. Ten animals (4.2%) were seropositive: five (4.8%) from rural areas and five (3.8%) from urban areas. Regarding sex, five (4.0%) were male and five (4.5%) were female. In relation to breed, four animals of undefined breed and six of defined breed were positive. The ages of the seropositive animals ranged from two months to eleven years. Results show there are no significant associations between seropositivity and the variables analyzed. Results indicate neosporosis must be included in differential diagnosis of dog neurological disorders.

Investigou-se a ocorrência de anticorpos anti-Neospora caninum em cães no Estado de Alagoas, Brasil e os fatores de risco associados à infecção. Para a pesquisa de anticorpos contra N. caninum empregou-se a Reação de Imunofluorescênica Indireta (RIFI). Para identificar os fatores de risco associados à infecção pelo N. caninum foi realizada análise univariada das variáveis de interesse. Foram analisadas 237 amostras de cães de ambos os sexos, diferentes raças e idades e procedentes de áreas urbanas e rurais. Obteve-se 10 (4,2%) animais soropositivos, sendo cinco (4,8%) de áreas rurais e cinco (3,8%) de áreas urbanas. Com relação ao sexo, cinco (4,0%) eram machos e cinco (4,5%) fêmeas. Quanto às raças foram positivos quatro animais de raças indefinidas e seis de raças definidas. As idades dos animais soropositivos variaram de dois meses a 11 anos. Os resultados da análise estatística revelaram não haver associação significativa entre a soropositividade e as variáveis analisadas. Os resultados indicam a necessidade de incluir a neosporose no diagnóstico diferencial das desordens neurológicas caninas.

Fungal microbiota from ocular conjuctiva of clinically healthy horses belonging to the Military Police Cavalry of Alagoas

Normal fungal conjunctiva microbiota of horses remains stable in healthy animals, free from ocular and/or systemic diseases which may, eventually, cause ocular alterations. The knowledge of the fungal microbiota is of great importance due to the reduced number of studies reported in the literature and also to the large occurrence of ocular alterations, mainly keratomycosis, in these animals. The aim of this study was to isolate and to identify the fungi present in the ocular conjunctiva of healthy horses belonging to the Military Police Cavalry of Alagoas. Samples from both conjunctival sacks from 50 horses were taken using a sterile swab and submitted to fungal cultures. These samples were seeded by radial spreading of the swabs on the Sabouraud agar surface with chloramphenicol, at a concentration of 50mg/L, in Petri dishes. Next, dishes were incubated at room temperature (± 28ºC) for 15 days. Horses conjunctival fungal microbiota was found to be composed by Aspergillus spp. (62 percent), Microsporum gypseum (6 percent), Penicillium spp. (6 percent), Curvularia spp. (5 percent), Candida spp. (3 percent), Fusarium spp. (3 percent), Acremonium spp. (2 percent), Bipolaris sp. (1 percent), Cladosporium sp. (1 percent), Chrysosporium sp. (1 percent), Rhodotorula sp. (1 percent), Aureobasidium sp. (1 percent) and Scopulariopsis sp. (1 percent). There is a wide variety of yeast-like and filamentous fungi colonizing the clinically healthy horses' ocular conjunctiva, out of which Aspergillus sp. is predominant. Although this was a straightforward study and have not recorded any ocular lesions that suggest fungi infections, these fungi might eventually be involved in this type of ocular pathology for the studied species.