Serological study of Toxoplasma gondii and Schmallenberg virus in herds goats in the state of Pernambucogoat raising, Pernambuco semiarid, reproductive diseases, exotic disease, public health.
This study aimed to broaden the knowledge regarding the presence of the infectious agents Toxoplasma gondii and Schmallenberg virus by means of serological surveys in goat herds in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. In this study 16 goat raising properties were included, located in 8 cities of the mesoregions of Agreste, São Francisco, and Sertão of the semiarid region of the Pernambuco state. A total of 368 serum samples were collected from adult goats, both male and female, to evaluate seroprevalence of IgG anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies, by means of the Indirect Immunofluorescence technique, and to evaluate the occurrence of IgG anti-Schmallenberg virus antibodies by employment of Indirect Enzymatic Immunosorbent Assay. The results showed that, 15.48% (56/368) of the analysed animals were positive for the presence of IgG anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies and 87.50% (14/16) of the evaluated properties had at least one positive animal for the presence of IgG antiToxoplasma gondii antibodies. None of the 368 analysed samples was positive for anti-Schmallenberg virus antibodies. The obtained results update the epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii and Schmallenberg virus in goat herds of the Pernambuco state. Schmallenberg virus is not an important agent in goat herds, even though there is clinical evidence of the occurrence of this disease, and Toxoplasma gondii continues to endemically occur in Pernambuco, causing infections in goat herds that can impact animal and public health.