Serological prevalence of brucella spp. in feral pigs and sympatric cattle in the pantanal of mato grosso do sul, Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of anti-Brucella antibodies in feral pigs and sympatric cattle in the Pantanal sub-regions of Paiaguás and Nhecolândia. The study was conducted in Corumbá, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. A total of 105 feral pigs and 256 cattle were sampled on 12 farms. Blood samples were collected from all the animals for serological diagnosis with buffered acidified antigen (BAA) for screening, confirmatory 2-Mercaptoethanol (2-ME) test, and comparative fluorescent polarization assay (FPA). The positive prevalence of feral pigs was 1% (1/105) in BAA and FPT, with no positive result confirmed of BAA in 2-ME. The prevalence of positive sampled cattle was 11.32% (29/256), 4.3% (10/256), and 7.42% (19/256) in the BAA, 2-ME, and FPT tests, respectively. The degree of agreement obtained among the serological tests in cattle was Kappa = 0.506 (p < 0.001), 95% CI (0.282-0.729). The results of serological tests showed that brucellosis is widespread in cattle herds of the studied region, but the same type of exposure to the agent did not occur in feral pigs according to the used diagnostic tests.