Metanálise da prevalência da leptospirose em equídeos no Brasil

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a very important problem economic and public health, being endemic and becoming epidemic in rainy periods. Contamination occurs through exposure to contaminated water by infected animals. In equidae the clinical manifestations vary according to the serovar involved. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of leptospirosis in equidaes in Brazil. To this end, a meta-analysis of the published articles about prevalence of leptospirosis in equidae in Brazil, carried out in electronic databases, was carried out. The year of publication, the total number of animals studied and positive, region of the country, purpose and sex of the animals, serovars found, presence of clinical signs and risk factors for disease were tabulated. Our meta-analysis showed inconsistent results due to the high heterogeneity between studies. It was observed a seroprevalence of 52,0% (IC: 39,3 - 64,5%) for leptospirosis in equidae in Brazil, being higher in mules with 62,1% (IC: 1,80 – 86,3%, P < 0,0001), distributed in all regions of the country, with higher prevalence in the South (69,43%, IC: 46,6 - 88,1%) and north (68,73%, IC: 35,9 - 93,5%) regions. The most observed serovar was Icterohaemorrhagiae (17,1%, IC: 9,6 - 26,3%) and there was no difference in susceptibility to infection between sex. These prevalences are associated with different risk factors according to the region studied and the particularities of each study. Our results demonstrate the presence of the disease in equidae for different purposes across the country and the importance of preventing this important zoonosis.