Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection in dogs from Western Brazilian Amazon

The objective of the study was to evaluate Paracoccidioides brasiliensis infection in urban dogs from the municipality of Monte Negro, Rondonia, Western Brazilian Amazon. The serum samples (n=126) were analyzed by indirect ELISA and the immunodiffusion test using P. brasiliensis gp43 and exoantigen as antigens, respectively. A positivity of 54.8% was observed only in the ELISA test and no statistical difference was observed in the seroprevalence in relation to age or sex. This is the first paracoccidioidomycosis survey carried out with dogs from the Western Brazilian Amazon. The higher positivity rates of P. brasiliensis infection observed in this study suggest that veterinarians must be alert to detect new cases of natural disease in dogs living in paracoccidioidomycosis endemic areas.

Fluorescence polarization assay, competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA-C) and indirect ELISA for the diagnosis of brucellosis in buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis)

The objective of the present study was to compare the performance of three serological tests for diagnosis of Brucella abortus infections in buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Serum samples collected from 696 adult females were submitted to the competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISAC), (I-ELISA), fluorescence polarization test (FPA), 2-mercaptoethanol test (2-ME) and complement fixation test (CFT). The gold standard was the combination of CFT and 2-ME, considering as positive the reactors in both CFT and 2-ME, and as negative those non-reactors. ROC analyses were done for C-ELISA, I-ELISA and FPA and the Kappa agreement index were also calculated. The best combinations of relative sensitivity (SEr) and relative specificity (SPr) and Kappa were given by C-ELISA (96.9%, 99.1%, and 0.932, respectively) and FPA (92.2%, 97.6 and 0.836, respectively). The C-ELISA and FPA were the most promising confirmatory tests for the serological diagnosis of brucellosis in buffaloes, and for these tests, cut-off values for buffaloes may be the same as those used for bovines.