Levantamento sorológico de anticorpos IgG anti-Neospora caninum em amostras de cães domiciliados na Cidade de Cruz das Almas – BA

Abstract

Neospora caninum is an obligatory intracell protozoan which belong to the Phylum Apicomplexa, and is the causative agent of neosporosis. This disease has a worldwide distribution, causes reproductive disorders and neurological changes in several species. It presents dogs as definite hosts, and bovine, buffalo, caprine and ovine animals as intermediate hosts. Prevalence studies on anti-N. caninum antibodies in dogs has been evaluated in many countries, even in Brazil, with indices ranging from 4,8% to 68%. The present work had as objective to conduct a serological survey of anti-Neospora caninum IgG antibodies in dogs, in the city of Cruz das Almas-BA, by using the technique of Indirect Immunofluorescence (IFI) and applying an epidemiological questionnaire. From the total of the examined dogs, 46% (46/100) have shown positive results in the IFI test with a cut off of 1:50. Fromassessment of the epidemiological questionnaire, it was noted that the average age of the animals was 4 years, another feature observed was that 43,48% (20/46) were mongrel dogs. When examining the type of diet of the positive animals, it was found that 28.26% (13/46) eating only food, 36.95% (17/46) and 34.78 cooked food (16/46) mixed diet. However when considering the use of homemade food it was found that 71,7% (33/46) with the use of animals this diet were positive. It was also noted that 80,4% (37/46) of the positive dogs had access to street. It is indicates that the habits of life these animals are related to risk factors for the disease. By studying the gender of the animals, a higher proportion of reactant serum females 60,87% (29/46) over the male proportion 39,13% (18/46). This study demonstrates that N. caninum is present in dogs of the urban area of Cruz das Almas/BA and that the use of homemade food, access to street and females were considered as risk factors for animals used in this study.