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Simple Summary: A new animal mortality monitoring platform, named DATASIMA, was utilized to track and record cases of animal euthanasia in the municipality of João Pessoa, Brazil. This system was designed to help understand why animals, such as dogs and cats, die or are euthanized, providing accurate data on their causes of death. From April to September 2022, 403 animals were euthanized at a Zoonoses Control Center in the city, with the most common reasons being infections like sporotrichosis in cats and leishmaniasis in dogs. Other causes included diseases such as canine distemper and injuries from vehicle accidents, which affect both species. DATASIMA also helped map areas where these health issues were most prevalent, offering valuable information for local health authorities to develop targeted health strategies and better address zoonotic disease outbreaks in the community. The literature regarding causes of animal mortality varies greatly in how it evaluates and describes reasons for euthanasia, showing a clear need for tools to identify, standardize, and map diseases. This study describes the application of the Animal Mortality Information System Database (DATASIMA) to monitoring and georeferencing animal mortality. An observational study was conducted on the dogs and cats euthanized at the Municipal Center for Environmental and Zoonotic Surveillance in João Pessoa, Paraíba. The deaths were reported through DATASIMA, an online platform created and developed in Brazil, which is aimed at observing animal mortality through the Animal Death Declaration between April and September 2022. A total of 403 euthanized animals were recorded, including 204 dogs and 199 cats. The most common diseases leading to euthanasia were as follows: (i) Sporotrichosis (171 cats); (ii) Leishmaniasis (75 dogs); (iii) Distemper (35 dogs); (iv) Trauma from vehicle collisions (ten dogs and nine cats). The DATASIMA platform proved to be an effective system for keeping records and reporting causes of animal mortality. Through georeferencing, it was possible to map areas with higher frequencies of zoonotic outbreaks in the municipality studied, thus providing useful data to implement health promotion strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which determined the flock-level prevalence of Chlamydophila abortus infection in goats in the Northeast region of Brazil and identified risk factors associated with the infection. The researchers collected a total of 975 serum samples from 110 flocks. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to test the flock-level factors for Chlamydophila abortus prevalence. Lend buck for breeding and history of abortions were found to be associated with increased flock prevalence.

Dirofilaria immitis is a zoonotic filarid that mainly affects the domestic dog, causing a generally fatal chronic disease, known as heart worm disease. In addition to dogs, the parasite can affect wild canids, cats, and humans. Due to its importance to One Health, detection of parasitism by D. immitis in dogs can help the adoption of control measures that aim to reduce the occurrence of parasitosis in animals and humans. The detection of D. immitis is based on the use of parasitological, serological, and molecular methods, which vary in sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, the objective was to evaluate and compare the efficiency and performance of parasitological, serological, and molecular tests in the detection of D. immitis in dogs in Northeastern Brazil. Whole blood and serum from 140 dogs from the municipality of Sousa were used, varying between males and females; aged one to 17 years; pure and mixed breeds; domiciled and stray. Three microscopic parasitological techniques (MPT) were used: capillary blood smear (CBS), peripheral (PBS) and modified Knott test (MK) associated with the morphometric diagnosis of the microfilariae. For the detection of D. immitis antigens, a rapid immunochromatographic test (RIT) (ALERE Dirofilariose AG Teste kit®, Seogu-dong, Korea) was used, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as a molecular method. To evaluate the tests, PCR was considered the gold standard, and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) values were calculated. To verify the agreement of the tests, the Kappa test was performed (p ≤ 0.05). From the 140 analyzed samples, 33.6% (48/140) presented microfilariae, antigen and/or parasitic DNA. 23.6% (33/140) were positive in the CBS; 25.7% (36/140) in the PBS; 29.3% (41/140) in the MK; 30% (42/140) in the RIT and 28.6% (40/140) in the PCR. All methods showed almost perfect agreement with PCR, high sensitivity (0.8-0.95), specificity (0.94-0.99), and values established with VPP (0.8571-0.9722) and VPN (0.9519-0.9797). The CBS and PBS showed less sensitivity and greater specificity. MK presented the highest sensitivity and RIT was the choice for hidden infections. Considering the occurrence of D. immitis in dogs in a non-coastal region of Northeastern Brazil, an epidemiological approach is recommended to identify risk factors for this zoonotic parasitosis., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

To evaluate the occurrence of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and factors associated with this and to demonstrate occurrences of coinfection with Toxoplasma gondii and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) in cats, a total of 103 blood samples were collected from owned cats, during home visits. To diagnose FIV and FeLV, immunochromatographic kit was used and serological diagnoses of T. gondii, the indirect immunofluorescence test was performed. The occurrence of FIV-seropositive cats was 23.3% (24/103) and the factor associated with infection was male sex. T. gondii seropositivity of 53.4% (55/103) was observed and 75% of FIV cases (18/24) were positive for T. gondii coinfection. Only 0.9% (1/103) was positive for FeLV. It can be concluded that the seroprevalence of FIV in cats in the Brazilian semiarid region is high and that FIV positive cats were also likely to be T. gondii seropositive, while FeLV had very low occurrence in the study region., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

To evaluate transplacental transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in naturally infected ewes, blood samples were collected from 55 pregnant ewes and their offspring, before ingestion of colostrum. From 16 offspring of positive ewes and nine offspring from negative ewes, blood samples were obtained after 48 h and 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56 days after birth. T. gondii antibodies were detected in serum samples using the indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT ≥ 64). Four of the 30 positive ewes (13.3 %) had offspring positive for T. gondii before ingesting colostrum (vertical transmission). The colostrum antibody titers decreased every week, and only 20 % (2/10) of the lambs in continued to present detectable antibody titers until day 56 after birth. Therefore, vertical transmission of T. gondii in lambs was indication of occur and is an important route for transferring and maintaining the agent in sheep herds in the Brazilian semiarid region., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A cross-sectional study based on a planned sampling was carried out to determine herd-level and animal-level prevalences, and to identify risk factors associated with herd-level prevalence for bovine paratuberculosis in the State of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil. The state was divided into three sampling groups: sampling stratum 1 (mesoregion of Sertão), sampling stratum 2 (mesoregion of Borborema), and sampling stratum 3 (mesoregions of Zona da Mata and Agreste). For each sampling stratum, herd-level and animal-level prevalences were estimated by a two-stage sampling survey. In the first stage, a pre-established number of herds (primary sampling units) were randomly selected; in the second stage, a pre-established number of cows aged ≥24 months were randomly selected (secondary sampling units). Ten animals were sampled in herds with up to 99 cows aged over 24 months; 15 animals were sampled in herds with 100 or more cows aged over 24 months; and all animals were sampled in those with up to 10 cows aged over 24 months. In total, 2504 animals were sampled from 480 herds. Enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) test kits were used for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) antibody detection. A herd was deemed positive for the presence of MAP if it included at least one positive animal in herds of up to 24 females, and two positive animals in herds with more than 24 females. The herd-level prevalence in the State of Paraíba was 34.5% (95% CI=30.2-39.1%), 26.6% (95% CI=20.2-34.2%) in the region of Borborema, 30.5% (95% CI=23.9-38.0%) in Agreste/Mata, and 41.4% (95% CI=34.0-49.1%) in Sertão. The animal-level prevalence was 10.7% (95% CI=7.3-15.4%) in the State of Paraíba, 7.9% (95% CI=5.2-11.7%) in the region of Borborema, 9.4% (95% CI=7.3-12.1%) in Sertão, and 13.9% (95% CI=6.2--28.3%) in Agreste/Mata. The frequency of seropositive animals per herd ranged from 6.7% to 100% (median of 20%). The risk factors identified were as follows: Sertão region (OR=1.9), more than 12 adult animals in the herd (OR=1.9), and not using maternity pens (OR=1.7). Our findings suggest that MAP herd-level seroprevalence in the State of Paraíba, Northeastern Brazil, is high, and support the idea that the use of maternity pens will be important for preventing transmission of MAP in the herds., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)