Serologic Survey for Selected Infectious Diseases in Free-Ranging Brazilian Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Cerrado of Central Brazil

A serologic survey conducted between September 2000 and January 2002 in Emas National Park, central Brazil, revealed that free-ranging Brazilian tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) showed no evidence of infection with Leptospira spp., Brucella abortus, or equine infectious anemia. However, one out of ten tapirs tested positive for Toxoplasma gondii, marking the first detection of this pathogen in a wild tapir population in central Brazil. The study involved immobilizing and sampling blood from ten individuals as part of an ecological research effort, providing baseline serological data for infectious diseases in this vulnerable species within the Cerrado biome.

Furtado, M. M., de Almeida Jácomo, A. T., Kashivakura, C. K., Tôrres, N. M., Marvulo, M. F. V., Ragozo, A. M. A., de Souza, S. L. P., Neto, J. S. F., Vasconcellos, S. A., Morais, Z. M., Cortez, A., Richtzenhain, L. J., Silva, J. C. R., & Silveira, L. (2010). Serologic Survey for Selected Infectious Diseases in Free-Ranging Brazilian Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Cerrado of Central Brazil. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 41(1), 133–136. https://doi.org/10.1638/2007-0087.1