Abstract
ABSTRACT Brucella ovis, a non-zoonotic species, is the etiological agent of ovine brucellosis, an infectious disease of clinical or subclinical occurrence in sheep flocks. Until then, there is no serological study of anti-Brucella ovis antibodies in purebred sheep herds. This study aimed to determine the presence of anti-Brucella ovis antibodies in purebred sheep flocks with breeding purposes from Parana State. Blood samples from 728 animals, of which 563 were females and 165 males, between 8 and 56 months of age from the six major sheep producing mesoregions of Parana, were submitted to detection of anti-Brucella ovis antibodies by the Agar Gel Immunodiffusion technique using an antigen from the bacteria Brucella ovis (Reo 198). The results indicate the presence of this disease in purebred sheep from Parana State in a low occurrence of 0.27% (2/728). The only two positive animals were rams, Santa Inês breed, from the same flock in the East Center region of Parana, without clinical disease. In conclusion, Brucella ovis is present in purebred sheep in Parana State, Brazil, and this low occurrence may have occurred due to rigorous breeding systems that may contribute to reduce the transmission of this disease.
Highlights
The ovine herds have gowned significantly worldwide (Farias et al, 2013), and Brazil, considered the 8th world's largest sheep producer, has reached 19.715 million heads, thereby the State of Parana represents 2.98% of the Brazilian herd, totalizing 588.996 heads (Efetivo..., 2019)
Brucella ovis (B. ovis), a non-zoonotic species (Poester et al, 2013), is the causative agent of ovine brucellosis, an infectious disease of clinical or subclinical occurrence (Ovine..., 2015), that is sexually transmitted and introduced into flocks by infected rams or ewes, since the etiological agent may be excreted through semen or vaginal discharge, occurring indirectly ram-to-ram via passive venereal contact with ewes when males share the same females during the breeding season (Hartley et al.,1955; Buddle, 1955; Blasco, 2010)
Even if the most common clinical sign associated to B. ovis infection is epididymitis in rams, less than 50% of the infected rams develop epididymitis, revealing the possible silent character of ovine brucellosis (Van Metre et al, 2012)
Summary
The ovine herds have gowned significantly worldwide (Farias et al, 2013), and Brazil, considered the 8th world's largest sheep producer, has reached 19.715 million heads, thereby the State of Parana represents 2.98% of the Brazilian herd, totalizing 588.996 heads (Efetivo..., 2019) Despite this growth, it is important to implement awareness around risk factors, control, and prevention of brucellosis dissemination in sheep flocks (Elderbrook et al, 2019). The Brucella melitensis Rev. 1 vaccine is a live strain vaccine that can stimulate immunity against B. ovis, harming serological tests, but it is totally forbidden in Brazil (Ovine..., 2015) This vaccine can cause human infection by accidental self-inoculation (Estein et al, 2009), and it is important to emphasize that there is no report of this Brucella species occurrence in Brazil
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