No abstract

Contagious equine metritis (CEM), a highly contagious bacterial venereal infection of equids, caused by Taylorella equigenitalis, is of major international concern, causing short-term infertility in mares. Portugal has a long tradition of horse breeding and exportation and until recently was considered CEM-free. However, in 2008, T. equigenitalis was isolated at our laboratory from a recently imported stallion and 2 mares from the same stud. Following this first reported outbreak, the Portuguese Veterinary Authority (DGVA) performed mandatory testing on all remaining equines at the stud (n=30), resulting in a further 4 positive animals. All positive animals were treated and subsequently tested negative for T. equigenitalis. Since this outbreak, over 2000 genital swabs from Portuguese horses have been tested at our laboratory, with no further positive animals identified. The available data suggests that this CEM outbreak was an isolated event and we have no further evidence of CEM cases in Portugal, however, an extended and wider epidemiological study would be needed to better evaluate the incidence of the disease in Portuguese horses.

Caprine arthritis encephalitis and Maedi-Visnaare lentiviruses affecting goats and sheep, respectively. Despite the literature having studies about these diseases, there is a constant demand and the need to study the health status of flocks that exploit economically. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the frequency of small ruminant lentiviruses explored in regional locations of Chapadinha and Itapecuru Mirim, that compose the microregion of Low Parnaíba, Maranhão, Brazil, as well as analyze the spatial distribution of outbreaks in the studied regions. Therefore, 241 properties were visited, where blood was collected in 1150 sheep and 1260 goats and tested by agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID). Epidemiological questionnaire was applied and collected the geographic coordinates. There was a low frequencyfor lentivirus, with 0.39% (5/1260) of goats and 0.08% (1/1150) of sheep. Regarding the spatial analysis, the reagent flocks were distributed in strategic cities for commercialization throughout the microregion. There was a low occurrence of lentiviruses.The municipalities of Cantanhede and Pirapemas of the regional of Itapecuru Mirimand Brejo and Magalhães de Almeida had reagent flocks for CAE. Whereas the municipality of Matões do Norte presented flock reagent to Maedi-Visna, this belonging to the regional of Chapadinha.

No abstract

Paratuberculosis is an infectious, chronic, and incurable disease that affects ruminants, causing enteritis and chronic granulomatous lymphadenitis, characterized by malabsorption syndrome, its agent is the Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Thus, the objective of this work was to identify and characterize MAP in buffalo herds slaughtered in Baixada Maranhense region. Samples of intestines, mesenteric lymph nodes, and ileocecal valves were collected from 115 buffaloes slaughtered at Baixada Maranhense slaughterhouses to perform the diagnosis by histopathological examination using staining with Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) and Ziehl-Neelsen, bacterial isolation, and real-time PCR. In the histopathology by H&E staining, there was evidence suggestive of paratuberculosis in 30% (31/115) of the buffaloes. With Ziehl-Neelsen staining, acidfast bacilli (AFB) were visualized in 27% (26/115) of the tissue samples analyzed. MAP was isolated in 4.3% (5/115) of the fecal samples subjected to bacterial culture. The samples inoculated in HEYM with mycobactin J produced colonies identified with MAP according to their own morphological characteristics such as round, white, smooth and slightly rough, alcohol-acid staining, and slow growth with 8 weeks of incubation and mycobactin dependence. The agent confirmation was performed in five bacterial isolates (4.3%) and 15 (13%) fragments of jejunum, ileum, and mesenteric lymph node by the IS900 real-time PCR technique. The results of the present study demonstrate the subclinical occurrence of paratuberculosis in flocks of buffalo slaughtered in slaughterhouses of Baixada Maranhense.