Anti-Brucella abortus antibodies in free-ranging equids from Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Maria Seles Dorneles, ElaineGomes Fernandes, LeíseAlmeida Santana, JordanaJoelson Correa Freitas, FranciscoMaria de Lima, Joseneyde Oliveira Barros, IsabellaMiyoshi Sakamoto, SidneiBryan Heinemann, MarcoseyAndreyAndreyAndrey
The aims of the present study were (i) to determine the occurrence and (ii) to evaluate possible factors associated with infection by Brucella abortus in free-ranging equids from Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Sera from 227 free-ranging equids (178 donkeys, 43 horses and 6 mules), captured by the highway police and the prefecture agents, were screened by the rose bengal test (RBT) and confirmed for B. abortus-antibodies by the standard tube agglutination (STAT) and the 2-mercaptoethanol (2ME) tests. Of the 227 equids tested, four (1.76%) were positive for B. abortus antibodies. All were horses, which resulted in an observed frequency of infection for this species of 9.30% (4/43). No association was found among seropositivity for B. abortus and the age and sex. Thus, data from the present study showed that infection by B. abortus is present among horses in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
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