Serological survey of lentivirus infection in goats and sheep slaughtered in the State of Paraíba, semiarid of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of antibodies against small ruminant lentivirus (SRLV) in goats and sheep slaughtered in the state of Paraíba, in the Northeast semiarid region of Brazil. Blood was collected from 500 goats and 500 sheep in slaughterhouses in the municipalities of Alhandra, Guarabira, Esperança, Picuí, Monteiro, Sumé, Patos, Piancó, Catolé do Rocha, and Sousa. The agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test was used for the diagnosis of SRLV infection. Of the 1,000 animals analyzed, 28 (2.8%) were seropositive, with a frequency of 3% (15/500) in goats and 2.6% (13/500) in sheep. It was also observed that no significant difference was present in seropositivity among the different municipalities. The low frequency of seropositive animals can be explained by the fact that most of the sampled animals came from extensive breeding herds consisting of meat production native breeds and crossbred animals.