Raiva bovina em Uberlândia, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Rabies is a disease of great importance because it is a rapidly evolving zoonosis, without treatment, and with a high social and economic cost, requiring the adoption of effective prophylactic measures. The herbivorous rabies virus is transmitted to animals mainly through bites from vampire bats, with Desmodus rotundus being the main reservoir of the virus in rural areas. In the present report, a cow was found to have been bitten by a bat in the region of the neck and presented the following symptoms: disordered head movements, muscular tremors, teeth grinding, mydriasis with absence of pupillary reflex, motor incoordination, staggering gait and involuntary muscle contractions. It then fell in a decubitus position, was unable to get up, presented pedaling movements, difficulty breathing, became opisthotonus and died five days after the onset of the symptoms. Samples were collected from the central nervous system and sent to the Animal Health Laboratory of the Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA), where they were subjected to immunochemical identification of the viral antigen using the Direct Immunofluorescence Test (DIF) and Biological Test in mice (BT) to carry out the diagnostic test for rabies, the results of which were positive.