Brazil stands out as the fourth largest producer and exporter of pork. The occurrence of certain diseases in animal production is one of the most important factors for swine production. Swine pathogens can be divided into three groups: agents of foodborne illnesses of animal origin; agents of strategically important diseases for the health protection system; and agents of diseases responsible for losses in animal production. Some diseases, such as classical swine fever and foot‑and‑mouth disease, impact heavily the export market; endemic or enzootic diseases deteriorate production rates and increase production costs, reducing competitiveness; and foodborne illnesses, despite not affecting production indexes, can cause damages to human health and harm commercial relations. Brazil, being an exponent in the production and export of pork and derivatives, must be aware of some aspects related to laboratory infrastructure, biosecurity measures, and care necessary to prevent certain, still exotic, diseases from infecting the Brazilian herd. This review addresses the main endemic or enzootic diseases that cause losses in pork production in Brazil.

/pdf/principais-ameacas-sanitarias-endemicas-da-cadeia-produtiva-52sz2lc3cr.pdf

Principais ameaças sanitárias endêmicas da cadeia produtiva de suínos no Brasil

/pdf/perfil-epidemiologico-da-febre-aftosa-no-brasil-a-evolucao-4ehoc67c3g.pdf

Perfil epidemiológico da febre aftosa no Brasil: a evolução do programa nacional de erradicação e prevenção da febre aftosa

Animal health surveillance programmes should be reliable and informative to ensure their effective implementation. As such, the regular assessment of those aiming to demonstrate the absence of disease, as well as the ability to detect outbreaks on time, is of vital importance. Several criteria make it possible to assess the performance of surveillance systems, including timeliness, which represents the speed between steps in a surveillance system. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the variability in the timeliness, within and between states, of the surveillance programme of the Brazilian Veterinary Services (BVS) for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), for the notification of vesicular disease. A total of 14 years (2004-2017) of data relating to vesicular syndromes from the Brazilian Continental Information and Surveillance System (SivCont) were included. A categorical variable was created with four classes to group the notified vesicular processes in the SivCont, according to two criteria, the similarity of the symptoms of the diseases reported with FMD and aetiology (viral, bacterial, fungal and non-infectious). The three timeliness values (TL-1, TL-2 and TL-3) related to different portions of the FMD surveillance system were analysed as a response in a generalized linear model in which the states of Brazil were the explanatory variables. The analyses were performed separately for each notification class (FMD, vesicular stomatitis, similar symptoms and similar non-infectious symptoms) and included comparisons within and between states. The study results provide an understanding and evaluation of the timeliness of the Brazilian FMD surveillance system, thereby providing a base of knowledge from which involved agents and decision-makers can evaluate BVS and reinforce surveillance measures in the states with poorer timeliness than permitted.

Timeliness of vesicular disease notification system in Brazilian foot-and-mouth disease surveillance programme.

The species of the genus Ceraeochrysa, known as green lacewings or trash-carriers, are widely distributed along the Americas and its islands. In Brazil, 28 species are found, including Ceraeochrysa cincta (Schneider), Ceraeochrysa claveri (Navas), and Ceraeochrysa cubana (Hagen). These species are recorded on many crops, where they are often used for biological control. For this use, knowledge of the genetic features of the species is extremely important because they are associated to the species' ability to withstand different conditions in new environments, such as variations of temperature and presence of pathogens. However, little is known about the genetic features of Ceraeochrysa species. Here, we analyze and compare the distribution of the genetic variability of C. cincta, C. claveri, and C. cubana in agroecosystem populations of southeast Brazil. We found a high genetic diversity in each of the three species, and no strong genetic structure was detected, such that genetic diversity is broadly shared among the crops and localities analyzed. We can conclude that there was a high gene flow among the sampled Ceraeochrysa populations (natural or driven by anthropic action) since the exchange of seedlings among crops can lead to the distribution of the specimens.

Genetic Variability of Ceraeochrysa cincta, Ceraeochrysa claveri, and Ceraeochrysa cubana (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) Populations in Agroecosystems of Southeast Brazil.

Interest genetic variability loss has taken importance not only the production but also because it may have negative effect on the epidemiology of animal diseases. Livestock activity can present considerable periodic economic losses due to animal disposal, reduced productivity, failure to express the genetic potential of animals, treatment costs, labour and professional assistance, closing of trade due to sanitary barriers and competition with foreign markets. Thus, disease resistance is a desired attribute in livestock production and animal health may be limiting in cattle production systems. Some confusion in terminology exist: resistance is defined as the ability of the host to exert some degree of control over the pathogen’s life cycle, while tolerance defines the impact of infection on animal performance. A concept very close to tolerance is resilience, which can be defined as maintaining the animal’s productive capacity in the face of infection. There are numerous reports indicating local breeds as an important reservoir of naturally genetics resistance to disease as a process of adaptability to the environment. Referring to the main diseases of domestic animals (tuberculosis, brucellosis, foot-and-mouth disease, etc.), numerous genes have been identified and studied as biomarkers for resistance and tolerance like the BOLA complex, CD, NOD and SLC11A1 genes among the most important. Although the limiting factor for breeding programs to include genetic disease resistance is the need to quantify resistance phenotypes. This can be expensive and logistically difficult, and is a significant barrier to selection for disease resistance. For this reason, disease resistance characteristics are an attractive target for genomic studies and are generally the subject of these studies.

/pdf/resistance-and-resilience-to-diseases-in-local-ruminant-1dla2tt0sr.pdf

Resistance and resilience to diseases in local ruminant breeds: a focus on South America

Vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease is an effective tool for eradication and prevention of this disease. However, the presence of non-capsidal proteins (NCP) in the vaccine, produced during viral replication, has been the main problem, since their presence hamper the vigilance as its relies on the detection of antibodies against NCP to differentiate vaccinated from infected animals. Therefore, the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply published the Normative Instruction 50 (IN 50) that included the detection of antibodies against the NCP to evaluate the removal of these proteins. Considering the vaccine interference, this paper aimed to evaluate the frequency of reagents to NCP, analyzed by I-ELISA 3ABC/EITB system in the Laboratory of Bovine Viruses (LVB), Biological Institute (IB), Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil, from 2002 to 2012. Of the 34,705 cattle examined, it was observed that the proportion of reagents to NCP increased with age, indicating increased frequency of reagents in animals that received more vaccines, showing interference of proteins in response to vaccination. When compared before and after the publication of IN 50, there was decreased reactivity, with reduction in 2010, of nearly half compared to 2007, and even higher when compared with 2002 to 2006. This shows the effectiveness of the purification of the vaccine in response to the implementation of IN 50, although it remains some seroreactivity in cattle with multiple vaccinations. The I-ELISA 3ABC/EITB system proved to be a great tool to prevent the movement of possible carriers of the virus derived from vaccinated herds, provided that all sanitary and epidemiological context are taken in consideration.

/pdf/a-experiencia-brasileira-na-erradicacao-da-febre-aftosa-e-o-aow607b9pc.pdf

Luis Henrique Aguilera Turissi

Papers

A experiência brasileira na erradicação da febre aftosa e o emprego do sistema I-ELISA 3ABC/EITB para certificação sanitária de bovinos e bubalinos