Levantamento sorológico do vírus da Artrite-Encefalite Caprina e Língua Azul em caprinos no estado da Paraíba.

Abstract

Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis and Bluetongue are diseases caused by viral agents that affect ruminants. Diseases are described as being silent in most cases and leading to severe economic losses exacerbating animal welfare, with no specific treatment. In the state of Paraíba there are few studies that report the presence of these viral agents in the herds. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus and bluetongue virus in eight herds of seven properties in the State of Paraiba using agarose gel immunodiffusion. There were collected 385 samples of goat serum. A total of 25/385 (6.49%) animals had antibodies against the caprine arthritis encephalitis virus. There was a statistically significant association between the production system, intercropping and seropositivity for caprine arthritis encephalitis (p <0.05). For bluetongue, a total of 7/385 (1.81%) animals were considered seropositive. There was a statistically significant association between the production system and the bluetongue seropositivity (p <0.05). The results suggest that the adoption of measures of control and prophylaxis is necessary to prevent the spread of infectious agents in the herds, because even with low percentages of seropositive animals for diseases in the goat herds of Paraiba, the existence of viral agents is cause for concern, generating economic losses for the producer.