RESUMO
Water buffalo industry has become a profitable activity worldwide, including the Northeast of Argentina (NEA). However, research on diseases affecting this species is scarce. The aim of the present study was to detect antibodies against Brucella abortus, Leptospira spp., Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii, and Sarcocystis spp. in 500 water buffalo cows from five ranches (100 animals each) in the NEA. Serum samples were tested for B. abortus by fluorescence polarization assay, Leptospira spp. by microagglutination test, and N. caninum, T. gondii, and Sarcocystis spp. by indirect fluorescent antibody tests. Overall, the proportion of seropositive animals was 6.4, 22.2, 42.2, 25.4, and 50.8 % for brucellosis, leptospirosis, neosporosis, toxoplasmosis, and sarcocystosis, respectively. The proportion of seropositive animals for all diseases was statistically different among herds (p < 0.05). Statistical differences were also detected among age groups for brucellosis and neosporosis (p < 0.05). The detection of specific antibodies to B. abortus, Leptospira spp., and several Apicomplexa protozoans in water buffaloes in the NEA is reported in this study.
Assuntos
Búfalos/microbiologia , Búfalos/parasitologia , Leptospira/isolamento & purificação , Neospora/isolamento & purificação , Sarcocystis/isolamento & purificação , Toxoplasma/isolamento & purificação , Animais , Anticorpos Antibacterianos/sangue , Anticorpos Antiprotozoários/sangue , Argentina/epidemiologia , Infecções Bacterianas/epidemiologia , Infecções Bacterianas/microbiologia , Infecções Bacterianas/veterinária , Brucella abortus/isolamento & purificação , Análise Discriminante , Feminino , Infecções Protozoárias em Animais/epidemiologia , Infecções Protozoárias em Animais/parasitologia , Estudos SoroepidemiológicosRESUMO
Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite that causes an important reproductive disease in cattle. Neospora caninum surface antigen 1 (Nc-SAG1) is an immunodominant candidate for the development of a diagnostic reagent for neosporosis. The current study describes the development and evaluation of an antigen print immunoassay (APIA) with recombinant Nc-SAG1 for the detection of specific antibodies to N. caninum in cattle. The concordance between APIA and a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was evaluated with 232 serum samples from experimentally and naturally infected cattle. Sixty-one (26.7%) samples were positive for antibodies to N. caninum by ELISA and 58 (25.4%) by APIA. The new assay had a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 96%. These results, along with the potential of APIA to evolve into a multiple antigen detection format, suggest that this method would be a reliable diagnostic test for detection of antibodies to N. caninum in cattle.