Freqüência de anticorpos homólogos anti-Borrelia burgdorferi em eqüinos dos municípios de Três Rios, Vassouras e Valença, Estado do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Lyme Borreliosis is a widely distributed spirochetosis hosted by wild animals, which is transmitted to domestic animals as well as man by ticks. It can either develop asymptomatically or multisystemically. In the equines, this borreliosis has been responsible for dermatologic, oftalmologic, neurologic and articular symptoms, with the most common clinical symptoms being the arthrite and polyarthrite. The present study aims to determine the frequency of equines tested positive in the three municipalities of the state of Rio de Janeiro to Borrelia burgdorferi by means of a seroepidemiologic inquiry utilizing the indirect Enzime-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). A serologic analysis was conducted 769 equines specimens, where 431 were from the municipality of Três Rios, 316 were from Vassouras and 22 were from Valença. A total of 216 (28.1%) animals tested positve for Lyme borreliosis. Of these, 169 (22%) presented a rate of 1:400, 37 (4.8%) a rate of 1:800, 7 (0.9%) a rate of 1:1600, 2 (0.3%) a rate of 1:3200 and 1 (0.1%) a rate of 1:6400. The results observed were similar to those found in the USA, where some frequencies of seropositive varying from 7 to 34% were reported in asymptomatic equines. There have been no significant differences in regards to race, gender or age. The utilization of the test ELISA indirect for detection of anibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi latu sensu has been proved to be efficient in assisting the epidemiologic inquiries and diagnosis. The humoral response of the studied equines, presented good antigenic recognition to Borrelia burgdorferi cepa G39/40 and the fequency of seropositives reinforces the hypothesis of occurrence of a similar borreliosis to the Lyme borreliosis in the State of Rio de Janeiro