Pesquisa de anti-vírus causadores de influenza e encefalomielite equina em rebanhos equideos da região dos lençóis, Maranhão

Abstract

Brazil has the largest herd of horses in Latin America. Of this amount, the State of Maranhão has the fourth largest number of assininos and the third largest of mules. Equidae in general are highlighted by the high susceptibility to different viral types, representing strong indicators, or even sentinels of the circulation of certain agents in a region. The diseases have increased in these animals, mainly due to the intense traffic, when considering the main viral zoonoses that affect this species as the equine encephalomyelitis east, west and Equine Influenza. Although the occurrence of these diseases is well explained in much of Brazil, in Maranhão, especially in the region of Lençóis Maranhenses, there is no data. It was emphasized the emergence of infectious diseases in equines around the world, especially in Brazil, and the importance of knowing the occurrence of a certain disease in order to promote prevention and control measures. The objective of this study was to identify the frequency of IE Strain H3N8, and EEL and EEO in equidae in the Lençóis Maranhenses region. For this, blood samples were collected from animals from 6 municipalities, adding 19 villages, with 443 animals sampled. The samples were submitted to the Hemagglutination Inhibition test for IE, with titration up to 1: 2560, and for EEL and EEO the Soroneutralisation Technique was used. Of the 443 samples analyzed, 138 (31.2%) presented antibodies to IE with titers ranging from 1:20 to 1: 640, 22,12% (99/443) were EEL and 1.35% (6/443) For EEO. Three animals were reactive concomitantly to IE, EEL and EEO. Therefore, there is the circulation of the three viral strains in the equines of the region of Lençóis Maranhenses, emphasizing the importance for the elaboration of measures of prevention and control of these diseases, since they are zoonoses with several outbreaks reported by the world.