Ocorrência de anticorpos anti-brucella spp. em equinos no Município de Canguaretama, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil.

Abstract

Brucellosis is a zoonosis of worldwide distribution caused by facultative intracellular bacteria pertecentes the genus Brucella. The importance of animal brucellosis varies from one country to another, depending on the animal population exposed, the species of Brucella involved and the measures taken to combat it (RIET-Correa et al., 2007). Few studies of the disease in the equine species, hindering the observation of disease distribution nationally and globally. In this study, we investigated the prevalence of brucellosis among 150 horses in the municipality of Canguaretama-RN, the test using the Buffered Acidified Antigen (AAT). The blood serum of animals was assessed by the buffered acidified antigen (TAA), and the 150 blood samples analyzed, 12 responded to the test. Despite the low economic importance of brucellosis in horses when compared with the bovine species, and few reports of the occurrence of specific antibodies against infection by B. abortus shown in other studies, there was a high incidence of specific antibodies caused by the same bacteria. Further studies are needed for real epidemiological diagnosis of infection in the state of Rio Grande do Norte in Brazil. The mere presence of animals reagent deserves attention, given the importance of the disease in terms of zoonotic.