Avaliação comparativa de resposta a tuberculinização em ovinos

There arefewstudiesin sheepindicating thebest sitefor inoculationagainst bovine and avianPPD.Our aim was to determine whetherthe site ofinoculation influencedthe use ofreference values.Wecompared the effects ofcervical intradermal tuberculin inoculationat two sites. Initially we tested 49 adult sheep of the Santa Inês breed, directed for testing in the cervical region.After 90 days, 27 animals previously tested and found negative,were tested again usingthe same test,but administered in the dorsal region of the pelvic limb. The test involvedinjecting0.1 ml of Avian PPD (0.5mg / ml) cranially and 0.1 ml of Bovine PPD (0.5mg/kg) caudally, atsites separated by a distance of 7cm, using tuberculin guns. Skin fold thickness was measured by calipers for TB examinations with grip spring and watch in stainless steel prior to the application of PPDs and after 72 hours.The skin thickness values were compared using thettest (p<0.05). All animals were considered negative. Before injection of avian PPD we determined thatskinwas thicker at the neckthan the pelvic region. After 72 hours there was no group difference in skin thickness, although there was a local,exacerbated hypersensitivity reaction.Reading thetime0,groups showedstatistically significant differencesin skin thickness.There werenodifferencesin skin thicknessbetween the two sites,suggesting thatthe reference valuesmay be employedintuberculintestingat both the sites wetested withoutaffecting the final result.