In this research, a seroepidemiological survey was conducted on 202 horses located on 21 properties in the northwestern region of the state of São Paulo (Brazil) to estimate exposure to Leishmania spp., Toxoplasma gondii , and Trypanosoma cruzi . Antibodies against Leishmania , T. gondii and T. cruzi , were detected in 48 (23.76%), 29 (14.36%) and 2 (0.99%) of the 202 horses, respectively. We found a significantly higher occurrence of antibodies against Leishmania compared to those against the other protozoa (Chi-Square = 46.7, 2 d.f., P < 0.001). Seropositivity for the aforementioned protozoa was not significantly associated with age group sex, breed, or function. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and direct agglutination test (DAT) were, respectively, the serological tests that most frequently detected antibodies against Leishmania spp. and T. gondii . A weak, but significant, correlation between seropositivity profile and geographic distance between farms was detected, possibly indicating that the environment and/or husbandry differentially affect the transmission of parasites with different life cycles. To our knowledge, this is the first seroepidemiological survey of T. cruzi in horses in southeastern Brazil.
Pinto et al. (Sun,) studied this question.