Brazilian spotted fever in cart horses in a non-endemic area in Southern Brazil.
Brazilian Spotted Fever (BSF) is an often fatal zoonosis caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii. The disease is generally transmitted to humans by Amblyomma spp. ticks. Serological evidence of past infection by R. rickettsii has been reported in horses, but the pathogenicity of R. rickettsii in horses remains unknown. Cart horses are still widely used in urban and urban fringe areas in Brazil, and these animals may constitute suitable sentinels for BSF human in these areas, for example, in Sao Jose dos Pinhais, where the first BSF human case in the state of Parana was diagnosed. Serum samples were randomly obtained from 75 cart horses between April 2005 and June 2006 and were tested by means of the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) for antibodies against rickettsia of the spotted fever group. A total of 9.33% of the animals were considered positive, with titers ranging from 64 to 1,024. These results indicate the presence of the agent in such areas, although at low rates.
Freitas
Marta Cristina Diniz de Oliveira
MC
Laboratório de Doenças Parasitárias, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal do Paraná - UFPR, Rua dos Funcionários, 1540, Curitiba - PR, Brazil. molento@ufpr.br
Grycajuk
Marcelly
M
Molento
Marcelo Beltrão
MB
Bonacin
José
J
Labruna
Marcelo Bahia
MB
Pacheco
Richard de Campos
Rde C
Moraes-Filho
Jonas
J
Deconto
Ivan
I
Biondo
Alexander Welker
AW
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006736:Horses; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*