Prevalence and risk factors of gastrointestinal helminths infection in Brazilian horses: A retrospective study of a 12-year (2008-2019) diagnostic data.

Understanding gastrointestinal parasite distribution is crucial for effective control programs in horses. This study reports the prevalence of helminth infections in horses and selected risk factors (i.e., breed, age, climate, season) by analyzing 19,276 fecal samples from the Laboratory of Veterinary Clinical Parasitology, in Curitiba, Southern Brazil. The analyses were carried out from 2008 to 2019, coming from 153 stud farms located in 60 municipalities of nine Brazilian states. The parasite prevalence was 73.3%, with 72.1% present in the adult population and 80.6% in young horses. Strongyles were present in 100% horse farms. Strongyles had a prevalence of 72.1% with a mean FEC of 453.53 (+/- 717.6). Parascaris spp. had a prevalence of 5.8% and a FEC of 17.11 (+/- 149.2). The tropical wet/monsoon climate (Am) showed the lowest FEC for strongyles and Parascaris spp. when compared to the other climates. In the logistic regression analysis, young horses exhibited 4.6 times higher odds ratio (OR) (3.9-5.5) of Parascaris spp. and 1.2 (1.1-1.4) times higher OR of strongyles egg shedding when compared to adults (P < 0.001). Summer presented a higher risk for Parascaris spp. and Strongyles eggs when compared to the other seasons (P < 0.001). Mangalarga Marchador, Criollo, and Crossbred breeds were identified with higher OR of Parascaris spp. egg shedding than Thoroughbred. The extensive prevalence of strongyles across ages, seasons, breeds, and climates alerts for the risk of clinical manifestations in equines raised on pastures designing optimal health management and parasite control strategies worldwide.

Geographic expansion of Fasciola hepatica (Linnaeus, 1758) due to changes in land use and cover in Brazil.

Fasciolosis is caused by parasites of the genus Fasciola, affecting animals and humans worldwide. In South America, the disease is a result of infection with Fasciola hepatica and although animal infections are more frequently reported, the full extent of the impact on human health due to underdiagnosis remains uncertain. This study analyzed changes in land use and the distribution of F. hepatica in bovine livers in Brazil over 18 years. Data on land use and land cover were collected from the Mapbiomas Project. Data on 414,481,963 slaughtered cattle and condemned livers due to F. hepatica infection were obtained from 4,433 municipalities. Joinpoint analysis was used to study the time series, and the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model was utilized to explore the behavior of F. hepatica infection. In the North, pasture areas significantly increased (P = 0.000001), while forested areas decreased (P = 0.000001). The midwestern and northern regions concentrated the highest number (>290 million) of cattle slaughtered in Brazil. More than 2 million bovine livers were infected by F. hepatica. The infected cattle originated from 194 municipalities in 2002, increasing to 747 in 2020. We consider that the changes in land use and intense cattle transportation may have caused the expansion of F. hepatica. The SIR model analyzed the spread of the disease looking at all six biomes: Caatinga, Amazon Forest, Cerrado, Pantanal, Atlantic Forest, and Pampa. Moreover, this infection not only threatens the health of animals but is also a major concern to biodiversity and vulnerable human communities in South America. Emblematic biomes such as the Amazon basin already face challenges with logging, desertification, and loss of biodiversity. Therefore, strategies for mitigating infection should include controlling illegal pasture areas, establishing health inspections of animal transport, quarantine of newly arrived animals, and livestock zoning, as well as clear One Health policies.

Predictive modeling of sand fly distribution incriminated in the transmission of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis and the incidence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in the state of Paraná, Brazil.

Southern Brazil concentrates a considerable number of cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis reported since 1980, and Paraná is the state that most records CL cases in the region. The main sand fly species incriminated as vectors of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis (Vianna,1911) are Migonemyia (Migonemyia) migonei (França, 1920), Nyssomyia (Nyssomyia) neivai (Pinto, 1926) and Nyssomyia (Nyssomyia) whitmani (Antunes & Coutinho, 1936). In this study, we evaluated areas with climatic suitability for the distribution of these vectors and correlated these data with CL incidence in the state. The occurrence points of Mg. migonei, Ny. neivai, and Ny. whitmani were extracted from a literature review and field data. For CL analysis in the state of Paraná, data were obtained from the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System of Brazil (DATASUS), covering the period from 2001 to 2019. The layers of bioclimatic variables from the WorldClim database were used in the study. Species distribution modeling was developed using the MaxEnt Software version 3.4.4. ArcGIS software version 10.5 was used to develop suitability maps and the graphical representation of disease incidence. The AUC values were acceptable for all models (> 0,8). Bioclimatic variables BIO13 and BIO14 were the most influential in the distribution of Mg. migonei, while BIO19 and BIO6 were the variables that most influenced the distribution of Ny. neivai, and Ny. whitmani was most influenced by variables BIO5 and BIO9. During 19 years, 4992 cases of CL were reported in the state by 286 municipalities (71,6%). Northern Paraná showed the highest number of areas with very high and high climatic suitability for the occurrence of these species, coinciding with the highest number of CL cases. The modeling tools allowed analyzing the association between climatic variables and the geographical distribution of CL in the state. Moreover, they provided a better understanding of the climatic conditions related to the distribution of different species, favoring the monitoring of risk areas, the implementation of preventive measures, risk awareness, early and accurate diagnosis, and consequent timely treatment.

Ocorrência de enteroparasitos em escolares no município de Bandeirantes, Paraná, Brasil / Occurrence of enteroparasites in schoolchildren in the city of Bandeirantes, Paraná, Brazil

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a ocorrência de enteroparasitos em escolares do 6º ao 9º ano de uma escola de rede pública de ensino do município de Bandeirantes, Paraná, e abordar ações educativas na prevenção dos parasitos intestinais. As amostras fecais foram processadas pelos métodos de sedimentação espontânea, centrífugo-flutuação em sulfato de zinco a 33% e Kato-Katz modificado. Para análise da associação dos resultados e os dados obtidos do questionário epidemiológico foram realizados os testes de qui-quadrado (χ2), exato de Fisher e razão de chances (Odds Ratio-OR), com nível de significância de 5%. Das 112 amostras fecais analisadas, 9,8% (11/112) foram positivas para algum enteroparasito. Em 10 amostras foi constatado monoparasitismo para os seguintes parasitos: Giardia sp 36,3% (4/11); Entamoeba coli 27,3% (3/11); Iodamoeba butschlii 9,1% (1/11); Endolimax nana 9,1% (1/11) e Enterobius vermicularis 9,1% (1/11). O poliparasitismo foi observado em apenas uma amostra, com Endolimax nana e Iodamoeba butschlii. Não foram observadas diferença significativas (p>0,05) entre as variáveis associadas aos resultados das análises de fezes. As ações educativas abrangeram 88,9 % (273/307) dos escolares. Os parasitos E. coli, I. butschlii e E. nana,apesar de serem comensais ao trato intestinal humano, são indicadores de falha na higiene pessoal, já que o seu mecanismo de transmissão se dá pela via fecal-oral. Contudo, apesar da baixa frequência encontrada, pode se observar que há circulação por parasitos intestinais na população em estudo,fortalecendo a importância de ações educativas no papel da prevenção, que auxiliam na higienização pessoal e dos alimentos de forma adequada (AU)

The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of enteroparasites in schoolchildren from the 6th to the 9th of a public school system in the city of Bandeirantes, Paraná, and to discuss educational actions in the prevention of intestinal parasites. Fecal samples were processed by spontaneous sedimentation, centrifugal-flotation in 33% zinc sulfate and modified Kato-Katz methods. The chisquare test (χ2), Fisher's exact test and Odds Ratio (OR) test were used to analyze the association between the results and the data obtained from the epidemiological questionnaire, with a significance level of 5%. Of the 112 fecal samples analyzed, 9.8% (11/112) were positive. Monoparasitism was observed for 10 samples, for the following parasites: Giardia sp 36.3% (4/11); Entamoeba coli 27.3% (3/11); Iodamoeba butschlii 9.1% (1/11); Endolimax nana 9.1% (1/11) and Enterobius vermicularis 9.1% (1/11). Polyparasitism was observed for only one sample with Endolimax nana and Iodamoeba butschlii. There were no significant differences (p> 0.05) between the variables associated with the stool test results. Educational actions covered 90% (273/307) of schoolchildren. The parasites E. coli, I. butschlii and E. nana, despite being commensal to the human intestinal tract, are indicators of failure in personal hygiene, since its mechanism of transmission is via the fecal-oral route. However, despite the low frequency found, there is circulation by intestinal parasites in the study population, strengthening the importance of educational actions in the role of prevention, which help in personal hygiene and food adequately (AU)