Seroepidemiology of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection in horses from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Paracoccidioides brasiliensis is the etiological agent of the major systemic mycosis in Brazil, called paracoccidioidomycosis. Although the Rio Grande do Sul is considered an endemic area of the disease, there are few studies on the ecology of P. brasiliensis in the state. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the infection of P. brasiliensis in horses from the mesoregion of Southwest Riograndense, using these animals as sentinels. Serological techniques, such as double immunodiffusion in agar gel (AGID) and indirect ELISA, were performed to detect the anti-gp43 P. brasiliensis antibody in horses from five different farms in the region of Bagé, RS, Brazil. Serology was performed in 200 Pure Blood English horses up to two years of age that were born and raised exclusively at the farms. Of these horses, 12% had anti-gp43 antibodies according to the ELISA results, with rates ranging from 0 to 30% according to the farm of origin (p < 0.001). Based on the immunodiffusion results, all equine serum samples were negative. These results indicate the presence of the fungus P. brasiliensis in the middle region of the southwestern state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Albano,Ana Paula Neuschrank, Klafke,Gabriel Baracy, Brandolt,Tchana Martinez, Da Hora,Vanusa Pousada, Nogueira,Carlos Eduardo Wayne, Xavier,Melissa Orzechowski, Meireles,Mário Carlos Araújo
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia 2015
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-83822015000200513
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