Prevalência de hematúria enzoótica bovina nos municípios de adrianópolis, PR e Ribeira, SP - Brasil

Abstract

Ingestion of Pteridium arachnoideum is responsible for intoxication in several animal species, including man, but its consequences are more notable in cattle, which depending on the daily intake and the period of consumption may be the cause of three main diseases: Bovine Enzootic Hematuria, Carcinoma of Superior Digestive Tract and Hemorrhagic Diathesis. These diseases cause economic losses to the dairy and beef cattle. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Bovine Enzootic Hematuria in the municipalities of Adrianópolis (PR) and Ribeira (SP), in the Ribeira Valley region. A total of 19 small farms and breeders were interviewed, to obtain information regarding the health management of cattle and the history of diseases related to chronic and acute intoxication by P. arachnoideum. Using these data, the properties of the region were characterized and the approximate prevalence of the disease in the region was calculated. Eleven farms were destined only for the breeding of beef cattle, three to milk production and five producing both meat and milk. Only two owners reported the absence of bracken fern on their pasture. Nine (47.3%) had animals with some degree of hematuria on the day of application of the questionnaire, and in 13 (68.4%) there were episodes of hematuria during the year prior to the visit. Eighteen of the nineteen breeders reported cases of hematuria in their animals at some point in their productive activity. Twenty-five (1.2%) of the one thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight animals present in the nineteen properties showed macroscopic hematuria at the date of the questionnaires. P. arachnoideum intoxication continues to be a major economic problem in the region.