Urinary shedding of leptospires and presence of Leptospira antibodies in healthy dogs from Upper Bavaria

Urinary shedding of leptospires and presence of Leptospira antibodies in healthy dogs from Upper Bavaria

Leptospirosis is classified as a re-emerging zoonotic disease with global impor- tance. The aim of this study was to determine urinary shedding of leptospires in healthy dogs and to identify the shedded leptospire species. Furthermore, antibody presence against leptospires was evaluated. In a prospe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift Vol. 129; no. 5-6; p. 251
Main Authors: Llewellyn, Julia-Rebecca, Krupka-Dyachenko, Inke, Rettinger, Anna Lena, Dyachenko, Viktor, Stamm, Ivonne, Kopp, Peter Andreas, Straubinger, Reinhard Konrad, Hartmann, Katrin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Germany 01-05-2016
Subjects:
Animals
Antibodies, Bacterial - blood
Bacteriuria - immunology
Bacteriuria - microbiology
Bacteriuria - urine
Bacteriuria - veterinary
Dog Diseases - immunology
Dog Diseases - microbiology
Dog Diseases - urine
Dogs
Germany
Leptospira - immunology
Leptospira - isolation & purification
Leptospirosis - immunology
Leptospirosis - microbiology
Leptospirosis - urine
Leptospirosis - veterinary
Prospective Studies
Germany
Online Access:Get more information
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Leptospirosis is classified as a re-emerging zoonotic disease with global impor- tance. The aim of this study was to determine urinary shedding of leptospires in healthy dogs and to identify the shedded leptospire species. Furthermore, antibody presence against leptospires was evaluated. In a prospective study urine samples of 200 healthy dogs from Upper Bavaria were randomly collected and evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for the lipL32 gene of pathogenic Leptospira (L) spp. Positive samples were further character- ized via multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to identify the Leptospira species. Microagglutination test (MAT) was performed to determine serum antibody titers. Three of 200 urine samples were found to be PCR-positive resulting in a urinary shedding prevalence of 1.5% (95% confidence interval 0.3-4.5%). All three dogs had been vaccinated before with a bivalent vaccine, covering the serogroups Canicola and lcterohaemorrhagiae. One dog shed leptospires of the species L. borgpetersenii, and two of the species L. interrogans. Of all dogs, 17.0% had antibody titers ≥ 1:100, and 3.5% titers ≥ 1:400 to serovars of non-vaccinal sero- groups. Healthy dogs that shed leptospires represent a possible risk for humans and other animals. The study emphasizes the importance of general hygiene measures in veterinary practice while handling urine of all dogs, and the use of vaccines that protect against a broader range of serogroups and that prevent urinary shedding.
ISSN:0005-9366
DOI:10.2376/0005-9366-129-15061