Occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in lowland tapirs maintained ex situ in Brazil and Paraguay/Ocorrencia de anticorpos para Toxoplasma gondii em antas brasileiras mantidas ex situ no Brasil e no Paraguai

• Published in: Ciência rural 2017-03, Vol.47 (3)
• Main Authors: Gondim, Maria Fernanda Naegeli, Acosta, Igor da Cunha Lima, Rangel, Maria Cristina Valdetaro, Soares, Herbert Sousa, Gennari, Solange Maria, Dubey, Jitender Prakash, Cubas, Zalmir Silvino, de Moraes, Wanderlei, Chaparro, Francisco Javier Sosa, Barreto, Francisco Candido Cardoso, Rossi, Joao Luiz, Jr
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0103-8478
• DOI: 10.1590/0103-8478cr20160712

Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is the second largest South American land mammal. It is strictly herbivorous and its exposure to Toxoplasma gondii should be indicative of environmental contamination by oocysts.In the present study antibodies to T. gondii in 47 Brazilian tapirs maintained ex situ in 10 Brazilian and in one Paraguayan institution were sought in serum samples by the modified agglutination test (MAT [greater than or equal to] 25). None of the animals presented clinical signs during the study. From 47 animals 35 (74.5%) were positive with titers of 25 in 8, 50 in 6, 100 in 12, 200 in 5, 400 in 1 and 800 in 3. One animal had samples collected on twice, and 19 were born in captivity. There was no association between occurrence of T. gondii antibodies and gender, and positive animals were reported in all institutions. The high occurrence of seropositive tapirs born ininstitutions (54.3%) confirmed the high exposure of these mammals to T. gondii in captivity. Only two cases of abortion were reported, but it was not possible to correlate these abortions to T. gondii infection. Key words: Ex situ, lowland tapir, Tapirus terrestris, Toxoplasma gondii, seroprevalence. A anta brasileira (Tapirus terrestris) e o segundo maior mamifero terrestre da America do Sul. E estritamente herbivora e sua exposicao ao Toxoplasma gondii indica contaminacao ambiental por oocistos. No presente estudo, 47 antas brasileiras mantidas ex-situ, em 10 instituicoes brasileiras e em uma paraguaia, tiveram amostras de soro avaliadas para a presenca de anticorpos para T. gondii pelo Teste de Aglutinacao Modificada (MAT [greater than or equal to] 25). Dos 47 animais, 35 (74,5%) foram positivos, com titulos de 25 em 8, 50 em 6, 100 em 12, 200 em 5, 400 em 1 e 800 em 3 animais. Um animal teve amostras coletadas em duas ocasioes e, 19 nasceram em cativeiro.Nao houve associacao entre ocorrencia de anticorpos para T. gondii e genero e, animais positivos foram encontrados em todas as instituicoes. A alta ocorrencia de antas soropositivas nascidas nas instituicoes (54,3%) confirma a alta exposicao desses mamiferos para T. gondii em cativeiro. Apenas dois casos de aborto foram relatados, porem, nao foi possivel correlaciona-los a infeccao pelo T. gondii. Palavras-chave: Anta brasileira, Ex situ, Tapirus terrestris, Toxoplasma gondii, seroprevalencia.