1. Occurrence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii and anti-Neospora caninum antibodies in pigs in the State of Pará, Brazil.
- Author
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Lopes LM, Minervino AHH, Monger SDGB, Soares HS, Portela JM, Ferreira JIGDS, Gennari SM, and Pereira WLA
- Subjects
- Animals, Antibodies, Protozoan blood, Brazil epidemiology, Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect veterinary, Seroepidemiologic Studies, Swine, Coccidiosis epidemiology, Coccidiosis immunology, Coccidiosis veterinary, Neospora immunology, Swine Diseases epidemiology, Swine Diseases immunology, Toxoplasma immunology, Toxoplasmosis, Animal epidemiology
- Abstract
We investigated the occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum antibodies in pigs raised in the Northeast of Pará, Brazil. At Study I, convenience sampled 151 pigs at two slaughterhouses, with and without state inspection; and Study II, which assessed 159 pigs with probabilistic sampling from nine pig farms. Serological analysis was performed using indirect fluorescent antibody test for T. gondii and N. caninum with a cutoff of 64 and 50, respectively. Overall, 6.77% pigs were seropositive for T. gondii and 5.16% for N. caninum. In Study I, pigs slaughtered with and without state inspection presented similar occurrence for both coccidia (p>0.05). Study II found an association between N. caninum seropositivity and sludge discarded into the soil, feeding pigs with animal-based protein, subsistence system, and absence of nipple drinkers. No association was found for T. gondii. Pigs from Pará are a potential source of T. gondii infection to humans. To our best knowledge, this is the first study to report anti-N. caninum antibodies in the serum of pigs in Pará State, Brazilian Amazon.
- Published
- 2021
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