Characterization of a virulent Leptospira interrogans strain isolated from an abandoned swimming pool.

Pathogenic Leptospira spp. are the etiological agents of leptospirosis, an important disease of both humans and animals. In urban settings, L.

Seroprevalence of Toxocara infection in children from southern Brazil.

The seroprevalence of Toxocara canis antibodies in children aged from 1 to 12 yr old was evaluated in Pelotas City, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Human toxocariasis or visceral larva migrans (VLM) was diagnosed with the use of an ELISA based on the T. canis excretory-secretory (TES) antigens; Western blotting was used to confirm the ELISA-positive results.

Leptospira borgpetersenii from free-living white-eared opossum (Didelphis albiventris): first isolation in Brazil.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that occurs all over the world, caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Marsupial and didelphidae families are considered susceptible to infection caused by a wide range of Leptospira serovars for which they serve as reservoirs. Thirty-three free-living white-eared opossums (Didelphis albiventris) were captured in Southern Brazil and bodily fluids were collected.

Serum antileptospiral agglutinins in freshwater turtles from Southern Brazil.

In this study, we observed the presence of antileptospiral agglutinins in freshwater turtles of two urban lakes of Pelotas, Southern Brazil. Forty animals (29 Trachemys dorbigny and 11 Phrynops hilarii) were captured and studied. Attempts to isolate leptospires from blood and urine samples were unsuccessful.

Characterization of virulence of Leptospira isolates in a hamster model.

Effort has been made to identify protective antigens in order to develop a recombinant vaccine against leptospirosis. Several attempts failed to conclusively demonstrate efficacy of vaccine candidates due to the lack of an appropriate model of lethal leptospirosis. The purposes of our study were: (i) to test the virulence of leptospiral isolates from Brazil, which are representative of important serogroups that cause disease in humans and animals; and (ii) to standardize the lethal dose 50% (LD(50)) for each of the virulent strains using a hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) model.

Isolation of Leptospira noguchii from sheep.

The main goal of this study was to obtain new isolates of Leptospira spp. from sheep. A total of 10 kidney samples and 44 blood samples were collected from sheep slaughtered in Pelotas, Southern Brazil.

[Evidence of dog as a reservoir for human leptospirosis: a serovar isolation, molecular characterization and its use in a serological survey].

Canine leptospirosis has been known as Stuttgart disease since 1898, and dogs are considered to be the second principal source of infection in man. The isolation of a pathogenic serovar from dog urine that was diagnosed clinically and laboratorial as having leptospirosis and its utilization to test serological samples of human and canine cases of leptospirosis, has demonstrated its importance to the ecosystem of the southern region of Brazil. The results of the serological microscopic agglutination test indicated that 100% of human serum samples from 12 patients from the serum bank of 2001 at the Center for Control of Zoonoses, that had titers between 25 and 3,200 with the canicola serovar, and 72% of 105 canine serum samples from the same serum bank, also reacted with the new isolate.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) isolated from healthy dairy cattle in southern Brazil.

Over a period of 1 year, the production of verotoxin was investigated in 1127 Escherichia coli isolated from 243 dairy cattle from 60 small farms in southern Brazil. Vero cell assay was used to detect toxins in culture supernatants from E. coli isolated from bovine feces.