Presence of antibodies against Leptospira spp. in dogs of Uberlandia, MG, Brazil

• Published in: Bioscience journal Vol. 31; no. 4
• Main Authors: Jacqueline Ribeiro de Castro, Mariana Assunção de Souza, Antônio Bertolino Cardoso Neto, Rafael Quirino Moreira, Sandra Renata Sampaio Salaberry, Ednaldo Carvalho Guimarães, Anna Monteiro Correia Lima
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Uberlândia 01-06-2015
• Subjects: Dogs; Leptospira interrogans; Microcopic Agglutination Test
• ISSN: 1981-3163

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of antibodies against Leptospira spp. and risk factors related to the epidemiology of leptospirosis in dogs living in the urban area of the municipality of Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Blood serum samples were examined from 268 dogs from the municipality's North, South, East, West and Central sanitary districts. The samples were collected during an animal vaccination campaign against rabies in August 2008. The occurrence of antibodies against specific leptospiral serovars was determined by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between sex, age, previous vaccination, habitation, presence of rats, and history of human and/or animal leptospirosis on the occurrence of infection. The occurrence of canine leptospirosis was 28.36% (76/268), the most prevalent serovars were: Autumnalis (34.21%), Tarassovi (23.58%), Canicola (17.11%) and Grippotyphosa (14.47%). No risk factors were found to be statistically significant (p> 0,05 for all examined variables). The fact that close to 30% of dogs showed evidence of past infection with Leptospira points to the need for the adoption of preventive measures, as the disease may represent a public health risk.