title: Frequency of antibodies against Besnoitia besnoiti in Brazilian cattle.
abstract: Besnoitia besnoiti is a cyst-forming parasite that has been associated with economic losses in Africa and Europe. Besnoitiosis is considered as a re-emergent disease in the European continent. It is unknown whether cattle are exposed to B. besnoiti in the Americas, thus the aim of this study was to serologically investigate antibodies against B. besnoiti in a total of 2014 cattle serum samples from two states from Brazil. All samples were evaluated by IFAT and part of the positive sera was tested by Western blot (WB) using tachyzoites extracts under non-reducing condition. A total of 3.48% (70/2014) of the tested sera reacted positively by IFAT with titers of 200 (85.7%), 400 (10%) and 800 (4.3%). When 47 positive samples were assessed by WB a range of antigens from 7 to 206 kDa was recognized by the IFAT-positive sera. The results are suggestive of exposure of Brazilian cattle to B. besnoiti due to the titers (≥ 200) observed for some sera using IFAT. However, the antigens recognized by the IFAT-positive animals did not completely match with the WB patterns previously described by other working groups. It is possible that Brazilian cattle are exposed to B. besnoiti strains with different antigenic composition of those described in the European and African continent. Further studies are needed to confirm the presence of B. besnoiti or other Besnoitia species in Brazilian cattle.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Av. Ademar de Barros 500, CEP 40.170-110, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Uzêda
authors.affiliation: Escola de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Av. Ademar de Barros 500, CEP 40.170-110, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9090, CEP 91.540-000, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Corbellini
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Centro de Ciências Rurais, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97105-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Antonello
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Centro de Ciências Rurais, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97105-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.affiliation: Escola de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Av. Ademar de Barros 500, CEP 40.170-110, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Electronic address: pita@ufba.br.
authors.forename: L F P
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Gondim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D021745:Sarcocystidae / Q000276:immunology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan
keywords: Besnoitia besnoiti; Brazil; Cattle; IFAT; Western blot