SUMMARYLeptospirosis, brucellosis and toxoplasmosis are widely-distributed zoonosis, being the man an accidental participant of their epidemiological chains. The aim of this paper was to make a seroepidemiological report and identify occupational and environmental variables related to these illnesses in 150 workers in a slaughterhouse in the Northern region of Paraná. For the diagnosis of leptospirosis a microscopical seroagglutination test was applied; for brucellosis, the tamponated acidified antigen test and the 2-mercaptoetanol tests were used, and for toxoplasmosis the indirect immunofluorescence reaction test. For each employee an epidemiological survey was filled, which investigated occupational and environmental variables which could be associated with these infections. Positive results for leptospirosis were found in 4.00% of the samples, for brucellosis in 0.66% of samples and toxoplasmosis in 70.00%. From the three diseases researched, only the results for leptospirosis suggest occupational infection.

Rev. Bras. Parasitol. Vet., 17, 1, 12-15 (2008) (Brazil. J. Vet. Parasitol.) RESUMOA toxoplasmose possui ampla distribuição geográfica e elevada prevalência sorológica entre seres humanos e animais. A forma adquirida é, na maioria dos casos, leve ou assintomática, entretanto, em aproximadamente 15% dos casos pode-se desenvolver a forma ocular. O objetivo deste trabalho foi relacionar algumas variáveis à ocorrência de anticorpos IgG antiToxoplasma gondii em escolares do ensino fundamental de Jataizinho (PR). Foram analisadas amostras de sangue de 276 crianças testadas pela reação de imunofluorescência indireta (IFI) onde 128 (46,4%) foram positivas. A análise das variá-veis revelou que a presença de gato doméstico foi um importante fator associado à infecção pelo T. gondii (OR= 3.45;) assim como crianças que relataram algum tipo de alteração visual (OR= 3.19;).

The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) in dogs of Bela Vista do Paraiso, Parana state, compare the IFA and ELISA techniques and identify the vectors possibly involved in the cycle of the parasite. Were collected blood samples from 489 dogs that were subjected to detection of anti-Leishmania sp. by IFA and by ELISA. Were considered positive samples ≥40 titers in IFA and for ELISA ≥ 0.174 optical density. Among the samples analyzed, 222 (45.4%) were positive by IFA and 189 (38.7%) by ELISA. Comparing the tests were found 176 positive samples (36.0%) and 254 negative (51.9%) for both techniques. The sensitivity of ELISA was 79.3% and specificity was 95.1%. The global coefficient of the test was 87.0% with kappa coefficient of 0.75. Analysis of variables for dogs with positive serology by IFA showed significant differences regarding the absence of forests and lack of contact with other animal species. Positive sera by ELISA in dogs variables that showed significant differences were the type of riparian vegetation existing in the environment, the lack of garbage, open sewers and released directly into rivers or streams and garbage thrown on wasteland, burned or buried. The result obtained with the capture of sandflies was the predominance of Lutzomyia whitmani with 79.9% of the species collected. The result obtained with the capture of sandflies was the predominance of Lutzomyia whitmani with 79.9% of the species collected. The results showed that the LTA is widespread in the canine population of Bela Vista do Paraiso, and both the IFI and ELISA can be used for diagnosis. So the dog appears as a link between wild and peridomestic cycle of CL may become an amplifier of disease in this ecosystem.

The enteroparasitoses are responsible for high death rates, mainly in developing countries where population growth is not followed by improvement in the population's standard of living. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of and the factors associated with enteroparasitosis in schoolchildren from Jataizinho, State of Paraná, Brazil. 264 fecal samples were analyzed by sedimentation in water, direct technique and Kato-Katz methods. The general prevalence of enteroparasitosis was of 68.2% (180/264). The most frequent protozoans were Endolimax nana (47.5%) and Entamoeba coli (23.1%). Already among the helminthes were Ascaris lumbricoides (10.2%) and Trichuris trichiura (6.1%). There was a predominance of poliparasitism cases (50.5%) in relation to the monoparasitism (49.5%). Schistosoma mansoni eggs were found in four (1.5%) of the analyzed samples. The main factor associated with intestinal parasitosis was related to the habit of bathing in rivers, streams or lakes (OR = 2.78; IC 95%; 1.32-5.92). According to the results obtained, sanitary education measures should be urgently implemented, emphasizing the risk of the habit of bathing in rivers and lakes, better personal hygiene habits and hygiene procedures for food.

The aim of this study was to verify the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in sera from naturally infected milk-producing caprines using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and modified agglutination test (MAT), determine specificity and sensibility of MAT and to evaluate the agreement of results between the tests. For this study, 282 caprine serum samples were collected from farms in the city of Pitanga, Paraná State, a region with a high pecuary of small ruminants. Prevalence found by IFA was of 44.68% and 23.05% by MAT. There was statistically significant difference (p=0.0086) in relation to the gender of animals, being females more seropositive. Sensitivity and specificity results for MAT were, respectively, 42.2% and 94.9%. By comparing results, a moderate agreement was observed (Kappa = 0.42). The high prevalence for the infection, associated to high titers found by IFA and clinical signs presented in the herds suggest toxoplasmosis as one of the causes of reproductive problems in caprines. Sensitivity and specificity results for MAT obtained in this study allow this test to be recommended as a confirmatory test for the caprine species.