La vigilancia activa y pasiva de la encefalopatía espongiforme bovina en rebaños de bovinos introducidos en Cuba

In Cuba, the active and passive surveillance program of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was implemented in November 2002, with its generalization in all national territory. This study presents the results obtained in the active and passive surveillance of BSE in herds introduced in the country, from countries defined as controlled risk. During the period 2005-2010, two-hundred nineteen brains belonging to both types of surveillance, were analyzed fulfilling with the remission data established and according to the types of surveillance. Histopathology and immunochemistry techniques were used in a simultaneous way and the different causes were determined after carrying out the differential diagnosis of the disease and the establishment of the confirmative diagnosis. All the cases researched were negative to the diseases due to the absence of compatible lesions. From the differential diagnosis, nine main causes were determined in the confirmative diagnosis. The main ones were hemoparasitosis, malnutrition and puerperal infections. In the present study, it has been demonstrated that there is no evidence about the presence of the disease in bovine herds introduced in the country.