Sorologia para Toxoplasma gondii em equídeos abatidos sob Serviço de Inspeção Federal em abatedouro no estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

SUMMARY - Toxoplasmosis is a zoonosis of global distribution, coccidiosis of felids; which affects homeothermic animals, caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Transmission may occur through ingestion of muscle tissue containing cysts from the parasite; through ingestion of oocysts eliminated in cat feces by intermediate hosts, or congenital, transplacental transmission. Equidae can link the protozoan to the human population by consuming raw meat or undercooked, or by eating the milk of asinines. The Brazil is one of the largest exporters of equidae in the world, with only three of the slaughterhouses in the country being exported. The objective of this study was to investigate IgG antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii in asinine and equine sera from the Northeast and Central West regions of Brazil, slaughtered in a slaughterhouse under the Federal Inspection Sanitary Service (FIS). The serum of 400 equidae (192 equines and 208 asinines) from the states of Bahia, Goiás and Piauí was evaluated using the indirect immunofluorescence technique (IFR). Of the total samples, 13.5% were positive for antibodies specific for T. gondii, being 18.75% positive horses and 8.65% asinine. The state of Goiás presented 9% of reactive animals, in relation to the total of samples analyzed for the two species, representing the highest frequency per state. Statistically the genus did not influence the results for any species. The association (p<0.05) between the equine positivity and the results found was verified.