There was no association learn more between the presence of dogs and seropositivity for N. caninum, and this result
was similar to what has been observed in other surveys conducted in Brazil ( Figliuolo et al., 2004, Romanelli et al., 2007, Salaberry et al., 2010 and Soares et al., 2009), suggesting that this coccid is preferentially transmitted vertically, similar to bovine infections. The serological evidence found in this study indicates that infection due to N. caninum is widely distributed on sheep-rearing farms in the state of Minas Gerais, especially in the mesoregions of Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte (28.1%) and Alto Paranaíba/Triângulo (26.6%), which according to the official agriculture and livestock census ( IBGE, 2009), presented increases in sheep populations over the decade 1999–2009 of 249.3% and 64.1%, respectively. Further studies will be needed to
selleck kinase inhibitor determine the impact of N. caninum as a cause of reproductive problems in sheep in Minas Gerais. We thank the Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA) and their veterinarians for their help in collecting serum samples and filling out questionnaires on sheep herds in Minas Gerais. Financial support was provided by the IMA and by the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas Gerais (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais; FAPEMIG – No. CVZ APQ-7963-5.04/07). “
“Plasmodium juxtanucleare Versiani & Gomes, 1941, the agent that causes avian malaria in Gallus gallus Linnaeus, 1758, was observed for the first time in Brazil when researchers studying avian spirochetosis at a street market, while examining blood samples drawn from
live fowls, observed a small parasite with rounded or irregular shape, always found near the blood cell nuclei. For this reason, it was named P. juxtanucleare ( Versiani and Gomes, 1941). Besides domestic chickens, there are reports of other fowls being infected by P. juxtanucleare: Gallus lafayettei Linnaeus, 1758 (jungle fowl) in Sri Lanka ( Dissanaike, 1963); Bambusicola thoracica sonorivox Linnaeus, 1758 (bamboo partridge) in Taiwan ( Manwell, 1966); Mephenoxalone Francolinus spp. (partridge) in Africa ( Mohan and Manwell, 1966); Crysolophus pictus Linnaeus, 1758 (golden pheasant), Lophura nyctemera Linnaeus, 1758 (silver pheasant), Crysolophus amherstiae Linnaeus, 1758 (Lady Amherst’s pheasant) and Phasianus colchicus Linnaeus, 1758 (common pheasant) in Brazil ( Massard and Massard, 1981); and Meleagris galopavo Linnaeus, 1758 (Turkey), also in Brazil ( Serra-Freire and Massard, 1979). The invertebrate hosts of P. juxtanucleare are mosquitoes of the Culicini tribe ( Versiani and Gomes, 1941, Bennet et al., 1966, Garnham, 1966, Krettli, 1972 and Lourenço-de-Oliveira and Castro, 1991). The pathogenicity of P.