RESUMO As lesões dos meniscos são uma das principais causas de dor e claudicação em equinos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a morfometria dos meniscos da articulação femorotibial de equinos. Foram utilizados 48 meniscos de 12 animais de ambos os sexos, com idade entre cinco e 15 anos e com peso entre 400kg e 500kg. A medida da extensão periférica compreendeu desde a parte mais cranial à mais caudal e denominou-se circunferência externa (CE). A margem interna, com o mesmo tratamento, foi chamada de circunferência interna (CI). Os meniscos foram divididos em terços craniais, médios e caudais. A espessura foi obtida nos pontos médios de cada terço. Foi calculada a área dos meniscos em contato com os côndilos femorais. O menisco medial apresentou maior CE com média de 126,38mm, enquanto o menisco lateral apresentou média de 115,32mm. O menisco lateral mostrou maior espessura nos terços médio e caudal, com valores médios de 16,00mm e 19,85mm, respectivamente, contra 13,75mm e 14,99mm dos meniscos mediais. Os resultados deste estudo mostraram relação importante entre os dados morfométricos e os achados clínicos na tentativa de explicar a maior incidência de lesões envolvendo o menisco medial.

(1) Background: Brazil features one of the largest recycling workforces worldwide, with around 800,000 informal waste pickers, mostly living in urban areas of major cities and dealing with low income and precarious working conditions. This context of vulnerability may lead to a high risk of food insecurity, which may be associated with infectious diseases, particularly toxocariasis, a cosmopolitan neglected parasitic zoonosis with high seroprevalence in tropical countries. (2) Methods: Accordingly, this study assessed Toxocara spp. seropositivity and associated risk factors (including food insecurity) in recycling workers of Curitiba, a major Brazilian (fully urban) city currently ranked 8th in population with 1.83 million habitants, 7th in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and 10th in Human Development Index (HDI) with 0.823 (very high), out of 5569 Brazilian cities. Recycling and non-recycling (used as population control) workers living in the same neighborhood were invited, voluntarily signed consent forms, and had blood serum samples collected and tested by ELISA for detecting anti-Toxocara spp. (IgG) antibodies; in addition, an epidemiological questionnaire (socioeconomic characteristics, owning dog/cat, food and hygiene habits) was applied. (3) Results: Overall, 95/177 (53.7%) recycling and 38/100 (38.0%) non-recycling workers tested positive by ELISA, with recycling workers more likely seropositive than non-recycling population (53.7% vs. 38.0%; OR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.15–3.12%). Food insecurity (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.04–3.91) and low (<1 minimum wage) monthly household income (OR = 3.03, 95% CI: 1.01–9.71) were associated with Toxocara spp. seropositivity by multivariate analysis. As expected, cohabitation with both dogs and cats was also significantly associated with seropositivity (OR = 3.75, 95% CI: 1.48–9.75). However, other assessed variables (gender, age, ethnicity, hygienic habits, contact with soil, raw meat ingestion) were not associated with seropositivity. (4) Conclusions: The study herein has filled a gap regarding toxocariasis in vulnerable populations and suggests food insecurity as a socioeconomic indicator for Toxocara spp. seropositivity in recycling workers. Furthermore, recycling workers are at higher risk of infection and, as such, need to be prioritized in healthcare programs.