Abstract
BackgroundCaseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, is one of the most important diseases of sheep and goats, causing considerable economic losses for herd owners.ResultsWe assessed the seroprevalence of infection with C. pseudotuberculosis in 805 sheep from 23 sheep farms that supply slaughterhouses in the state of Minas Gerais; we also analyzed management practices that could be associated with CLA occurrence, used on these and nearby farms that also supplied animals to the slaughterhouse (n = 60). The serum samples for assaying CLA infection were taken at the slaughterhouse. Frequency of infection with C. pseudotuberculosis was estimated at 43.7%, and farm frequency was estimated at 100%. Management practices were analyzed through a questionnaire. All farmers (60/60) had extensive/semi-extensive rearing system; 70.0% (42/60) identified sheep individually; 11.7% (7/60) had periodical technical assistance; 41.7% (25/60) disinfected the facilities; 86.7% (52/60) used barbed wire fences and did not implement adequate CLA control measures; only 11.7% (7/60) of breeders reported vaccination against C. pseudotuberculosis; 13.3% (8/60) took note of animals with clinical signs of CLA; 1.7% (1/60) opened and sanitized abscesses, and isolated the infected animals; 10.0% (6/60) knew the zoonotic potential of this disease and 1.7% (1/60) of the farmers culled animals in case of recurrence of abscesses.ConclusionsIt can be concluded that C. pseudotuberculosis infection is widely spread in sheep flocks in Minas Gerais state in Brazil and that there is a lack of good management measures and vaccination, allowing transmission of this infectious agent throughout the production network.
Highlights
Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, is one of the most important diseases of sheep and goats, causing considerable economic losses for herd owners
Sheep from 23 herds located in 20 different Minas Gerais state municipalities of were analyzed (Figure 1)
Serofrequency of C. pseudotuberculosis infection among the slaughtered sheep was 43.7%, while the frequency of herds with seropositive sheep was 100%
Summary
Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA), caused by Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, is one of the most important diseases of sheep and goats, causing considerable economic losses for herd owners. In the superficial form, the peripheral lymph nodes swell and abscess, while in the visceral form there are systemic complications that can lead to chronic thinning [1]. This is a chronic and subclinical disease of sheep and goats distributed worldwide with high prevalence. The bacterium is classified into two biovars, the biovar ovis, which mainly affects sheep and goats, causing superficial and visceral abscesses, and the biovar equi, which mainly affects horses, causing ulcerating lymphangitis of the distal extremities, ventral abscesses in the thorax and abdomen, and furunculosis [4,5]
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