Serological survey of Mycobacterium bovis, Brucella abortus and Borrelia burgdorferi in water buffaloes in the northern region of Brazil

摘要

The largest buffalo herds are in the northern region of Brazil, so few studies have been conducted to assess the prevalence of selected parasitic diseases in buffalo herds. The present study was therefore conducted to research the epidemiology of Borrelia burgdorferi, Mycobacterium bovis and Brucella abortus in water buffaloes in the north region of Brazil. A total of 4796 buffalo blood samples were randomly collected from five provinces and simultaneously analyzed by ELISA, tuberculin test, CFT and 2ME. The occurrence of B. burgdorferi in buffalo was 75% by ELISA. The tuberculin testing prevalence of M. bovis was 4.6%. The overall prevalence of B. abortus was 4.8% and 4.6% by CFT and 2ME, respectively. Thus, it is concluded that all agents studied were circulating in buffaloes. Special emphasis should be given to brucellosis and tuberculosis agents which are important to public health. Another important finding was the high titers of antibodies found against borreliosis agents, but a possible agent and vector have not been identified yet in Brazil.