Paratuberculosis in Latin America: a systematic review

Latin America is the definition of the American group, where languages of Latin origin are spoken, including countries in South, Central, and North America. Paratuberculosis is a gastrointestinal contagious chronic disease that affects ruminants, whose etiological agent is the bacilli Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). Paratuberculosis is characterized by intermittent diarrhea, decreased milk production, dehydration, and progressive weight loss and is possibly involved in Crohn’s disease, a human intestinal disease. MAP is resistant to environmental factors, pasteurization, and water disinfection, which coupled with the subclinical-clinical nature of the disease, and makes paratuberculosis a relevant socioeconomic and public health issue, justifying the descriptive review of research on the disease carried out in Latin American countries. A survey of articles, published until September 2016, on the Scopus database, PubMed, Agris, and Science Direct, about detection of the agent and the disease in Latin America, without restrictions to the date of the research was performed. The keywords were as follows: “paratuberculosis,” “Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis,” “cattle,” “milk,” “wildlife,” “goat,” “ovine,” “dairy,” and the name of each country in English. Studies found from nine of the 20 Latin America countries, 31 related to Brazil, 17 to Argentina, 14 to Chile, eight to Colombia, six to Mexico, two to Peru, two to Venezuela, and one to Panama and to Bolivia, each. The agent was detected in cattle, goats, sheep, domesticated water buffalo, and wild animals. Microbiological culture, PCR, and ELISA were the frequent techniques. The small number of studies may result in overestimation or underestimation of the real scenario.