Bovine Leptospirosis in Caatinga Biome, Brazil: New Insights into Diagnosis and Epidemiology

Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease

article

Nathanael Natércio da Costa Barnabé¹  Rafael Rodrigues Soares¹  Deivyson Kelvis Silva Barros¹  Denise Batista Nogueira²  Flávia Teresa Ribeiro da Costa¹  João Pessoa Araújo Júnior³  Camila Dantas Malossi³  Leila Sabrina Ullmann³  Diego Figueiredo da Costa⁴  Maria Luana Cristiny Rodrigues Silva¹  Severino Silvano dos Santos Higino¹  Carolina de Sousa Américo Batista Santos¹  Sérgio Santos de Azevedo¹  Clebert José Alves¹ 

[1] Academic Unit of Veterinary Medicine ,(UAMV), Federal University of Campina Grande;Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zootechny ,(FMVZ), University of São Paulo;Institute of Biosciences, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of the São Paulo State;Department of Veterinary Science, Federal University of Paraíba

关键词: Leptospira spp.;    serology;    cut-off point;    bacteriological culture;    PCR;    semiarid conditions;   

DOI  :  10.3390/tropicalmed8030177

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Bovine leptospirosis causes economic losses and raises public health concerns. It is possible that there are peculiarities in the epidemiology of leptospirosis in regions with a semiarid climate, such as the Caatinga biome in Brazil, where the climate is hot and dry, and the etiological agent require alternative routes of transmission. This study aimed to close knowledge gaps to the diagnosis and epidemiology of Leptospira spp. infection in cows from the Caatinga biome, Brazil. Samples of the blood, urinary tract (urine, bladder and kidney) and reproductive tract (vaginal fluid, uterus, uterine tube, ovary and placenta) were collected from 42 slaughtered cows. Diagnostic tests included were the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and bacterial isolation. Anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies were found in 27 (64.3%) of the animals analyzed using MAT at a 1:50 dilution (cut-off 50), while 31 (73.8%) animals had at least one organ/fluid where the presence of Leptospira spp. DNA was identified, and 29 animals (69%) were positive at bacteriological culture. The highest sensitivity values for MAT were obtained at the cut-off point of 50. In conclusion, even under hot and dry climate conditions, it is possible that Leptospira spp. can spread through alternative routes such as venereal transmission; moreover, a cut-off of 50 is recommended for the serological diagnosis of cattle from the Caatinga biome.

【 授权许可】

CC BY