DIRECT RESEARCH AND MOLECULAR EVALUATION FOR Trypanosoma vivax IN CATTLE FROM SLAUGHTERHOUSE IN THE MIDWEST REGION OF THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO AND SPATIAL ANALYSIS

• Grant number: 22/09622-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2022
• End date: November 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Preventive Veterinary Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Simone Baldini Lucheis
• Grantee: Marcos Vinicius Rangel
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Bovine trypanosomoses are zoonoses caused by protozoa of the genus Trypanosoma, being the main etiological agent present in Latin America Trypanosoma vivax (T. vivax), responsible for considerable economic losses in cattle with high morbidity and mortality in the herd. T. vivax is transmitted by blood-sucking flies of the genus Tabanus spp. and Stomoxys spp. or by physical means, such as sharing needles contaminated with blood from infected animals during the application of medications and vaccinations that use the same needle without proper sterilization; still, transmission can occur sexually and transplacentally, keeping the infection in the herd. Although most bovine trypanosomiasis is asymptomatic, in cases of outbreaks it is common to present clinical symptoms such as weight loss, fever, decreased milk production, malnutrition, high rate of abortions and even death of the animal. In Brazil, bovine trypanosomiasis is endemic and causes great commercial losses to rural workers, affecting mainly small producers, in properties with few animals and low technification. This research aims at the detection of T. vivax in 143 blood samples from bovines slaughtered in a slaughterhouse in the Midwest region of São Paulo, by direct research of the parasite by microscopy and staining using the Giemsa technique, and molecular research by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), using specific primers for T. vivax, as well as performing the spatial analysis from the municipalities of origin of the positive animals.