Although anemia has been historically linked to Haemonchus contortus infection, other infectious agents, such as hemotropic mycoplasmas and tick-borne disease pathogens, may also lead to anemic crisis in sheep. This study has aimed to investigate infections related to anemia in a sheep herd from Bandeirantes City, Paraná State, southern Brazil. Seven out of forty-two (16.6%; 95% CI: 8.32–30.6%) sheep were positive for hemoplasmas by a PCR targeting the 16S rRNA gene and all tested negative for A. marginale/A. ovis and Babesia/Theileria spp. by PCR based on msp4 and 18S rRNA genes, respectively. Two (4.7%; 95% CI: 1.32–15.79%) animals were infested with Rhipicephalus microplus ticks. Fecal egg counting was performed in 38 sheep and 24 (63.15%; 95% CI: 47.2–76.6%) presented > 500 eggs per gram. Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences of the detected hemotropic Mycoplasma sp. 16S and 23S rRNA genes confirmed that the animals were infected with Mycoplasma ovis. Polymorphism analysis of partial 16S rRNA sequences showed three different genotypes of M. ovis infecting sheep assessed in the present study. Mycoplasma ovis and gastrointestinal nematodes occurs in sheep from the northern region of Paraná State.

Theileria equi is the causative agent of worldwide piroplasmosis, an important tick-borne disease of equids associated to a lifetime carrier state of infected horses. Since rapid, accessible and reliable tests have been posted as a challenge for clinicians, the aim of the present study was to verify the agreement between an in-house immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) and a commercial competitive inhibition enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) in a population of 198 carthorses from Southern Brazil. The horse seroreactivity for T. equi revealed 152/198 (76.8%) positive samples by IFA and 155/198 (78.3%) by cELISA. Using cELISA as gold standard, IFA has shown a sensitivity of 91.6% (95% CI = 86.18-95.03%) and specificity of 76.7% (95% CI = 62.26-86.85%), with a substantial degree of agreement (k = 0.8445). In conclusion, the in-house IFA may be used as a screening test for diagnosis of equine piroplasmosis.

Ticks are distributed worldwide, and in South America, Brazil possesses the largest diversity of them. They are responsible for transmitting a wide range of pathogens to animals and accidentally to humans. The available data on tick species parasitizing wild animals in Paraná State are limited to few reports. Accordingly, the aims of this study were to describe and map the distribution of ticks parasitizing wild animals in Paraná State, southern Brazil, based on unpublished data from records of ticks deposited in two scientific collections, and tick records from previously published studies. Overall, we obtained 976 records of parasitism by ticks from 173 different species of free-ranging wild animals: 2/173 (1.2%) amphibians, 2/173 (1.2%) reptiles, 119/173 (68.8%) birds, 3/173 (1.7%) canids, 2/173 (1.2%) deer, 6/173 (3.5%) felids, 7/173 (4.0%) marsupials, 3/173 (1.7%) mustelid, 2/173 (1.2%) non-human primates, 2/173 (1.2%) procionid, 19/173 (11.0%) rodents, 2/173 (1.2%) Suine, 1/173 (0.6%) tapir, and 3/173 (1.7%) Xenarthra. A total of 6,794 ticks (1,163 males, 749 females, 428 adults of non-defined sex, 1,824 nymphs, 2,370 larvae, and 260 not identified stages) were recorded. The following tick species were recorded: Amblyomma aureolatum, Amblyomma brasiliense, Amblyomma calcaratum, Amblyomma coelebs, Amblyomma dissimile, Amblyomma dubitatum, Amblyomma fuscum, Amblyomma geayi, Amblyomma incisum, Amblyomma longirostre, Amblyomma nodosum, Amblyomma ovale, Amblyomma parkeri (some published as A. geayi), Amblyomma parvum, Amblyomma pseudoconcolor, Amblyomma rotundatum, Amblyomma sculptum (some published as Amblyomma cajennense senso lato), Amblyomma tigrinum, Amblyomma triste, Amblyomma sp., Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, Haemaphysalis sp., Ixodes auritulus, Ixodes fuscipes (some published as Ixodes aragaoi), Ixodes loricatus, Ixodes paranaensis, Ixodes schulzei, Ixodes sp., and Rhipicephalus microplus. Amblyomma aureolatum and A. longirostre were highly prevalent on wild hosts. Ring-tailed coati (Nasua nasua) was the host species with the highest tick richness in Paraná State, Brazil. Also, we provide the first record of the tick-host association A. fuscum on felid (Leopardus guttulus), and R. microplus on rodent (Sphiggurus villosus).

Os carrapatos são conhecidos por parasitar uma variedade de hospedeiros domésticos e silvestres, incluindo mamíferos, aves, répteis e anfíbios. Além disso, muitos animais silvestres participam do ciclo epidemiológico de doenças transmitidas por carrapatos. Nesse sentido, o objetivo desse estudo foi identificar as espécies de carrapatos parasitando animais silvestres atendidos no Hospital Veterinário, Universidade Federal do paraná, Curitiba, Brasil. Os carrapatos foram coletados de 28 animais silvestres: uma anta (Tapirus terrestres), um cervídeo (Mazama sp.), um javali (Sus scrofa), dois bugios (Alouatta guariba), duas capivaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), 9 ouriços-cacheiros (Sphiggurus villosus), quatro tamanduás-mirins (Tamandua tetradactyla), seis gambás (Didelphis spp.), um gato-mourisco (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) e um teiú (Tupinambis sp.). Ao todo, foram coletados 115 carrapatos (65 machos, 33 fêmeas e 17 ninfas): Amblyomma aureolatum (1M, 3F, 2N) em dois bugios, um gambá e um gato-mourisco; Amblyomma calcaratum (8M, 2F) em 4 tamanduás-mirins; Amblyomma dubitatum (6M, 1F, 7N) em duas capivaras e um gambá; Amblyomma fuscum (3F) em um teiú; Amblyomma longirostre (28M, 8F, 4N) e Amblyomma parkeri (4M, 3F, 3N) em nove ouriços-cacheiros; Amblyomma ovale (1F) em um javali; Amblyomma sculptum (6M, 7F) em uma anta e um javali; Haemaphysalis juxtakochi (1N) em um cervídeo e Ixodes loricatus (12M, 5F) em cinco gambás. Estudos são necessários para melhor avaliar o papel dessas espécies na epidemiologia das doenças transmitidas por carrapatos.

This is the first report of Babesia vogeli molecular detection in dogs from the state of Acre, northern Brazil. This study aimed to perform the molecular detection of Babesia vogeli in dogs in the municipality of Rio Branco, Acre. Blood samples were collected from 47 dogs presenting with clinical signs comparable to hemoparasitosis. These were dogs which were attended in veterinary clinics from Rio Branco municipality, Acre. Physical examinations, packed cell volume (PCV) determination, platelet number estimation, hemoparasite investigation in the blood (collected from the pinna and peripheral blood), and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for piroplasm based on the 18S rRNA gene, were performed. One dog (1/47, 2.1%; CI 95%: 0.1-11.3%) tested positive to Babesia vogeli in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for piroplasms and the resulting sequence showed 100% identity with Babesia vogeli isolates deposited in GenBank®. Co-infection with Ehrlichia spp. was also observed by direct examination (via blood smear). The clinical and hematological alterations observed in the positive animal were anorexia, dehydration, white mucous membranes, anemia and thrombocytopenia.