title: Brazilian spotted fever in cart horses in a non-endemic area in Southern Brazil.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Marta Cristina Diniz de Oliveira
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Freitas
authors.forename: Marcelly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grycajuk
authors.forename: Marcelo Beltrão
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Molento
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bonacin
authors.forename: Marcelo Bahia
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Labruna
authors.forename: Richard de Campos
authors.initials: Rde C
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.forename: Jonas
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moraes-Filho
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Deconto
authors.forename: Alexander Welker
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Biondo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006736:Horses; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*