In this study, the seroprevalence and distribution of Leptospira in dairy cattle in endemic states of India were investigated in association with reproductive problems of the cattle. A total of 373 cattle serum samples from 45 farms in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand states were collected from animals with a history of reproductive disorders like abortion, repeat breeding, anoestrus and endometritis, and also from apparently healthy animals. These samples were screened for Leptospira serogroup-specific antibodies by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) using a panel of 18 live reference serovar antigens. The seropositivity of 70.51% (263/373, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.75) was associated with reproductive problems (χ = 55.71, p < 0.01) and sampled states (χ = 32.99, p < 0.01) and independent of apparently healthy animals (χ = 15.6, p > 0.10) and age groups of cattle (χ = 0.91, p > 0.10). Further, the odds (risk-relation) of reproductive disorders was 5.29 compared to apparently healthy animals (0.25 odds). The frequency distribution of predominant serogroup-specific Leptospira antibodies were determined against the serovars: Hardjo (27.76%), Pyrogenes (18.63%), Canicola and Javanica (17.49%), Hebdomadis (17.11%), Shermani and Panama (16.73%), Djasiman (16.35%), Tarassovi, Grippotyphosa and Pomona (15.97%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (15.59%), Copenhageni (14.83%), Australis (13.69%), Kaup and Hurstbridge (10.65%), Bankinang (10.27%) and Bataviae (9.51%). In conclusion, dairy cattle have a role in maintaining important several serovars besides well-known Hardjo serovar in endemic states of India and warrant mitigating measures to reduce the incidence of cattle leptospirosis including need for an intensive surveillance programme, preventive vaccination and control strategies.

The investigation was carried out to know prevalence of Leptospira serovar Hardjo in organised cattle dairy farms of India by using the commercial Leptospira Bovine Hardjo ELISA kit. Cattle serum samples (964) collected from different organized farm in various states, viz. Maharastra, Gurajat, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka, were tested. The overall seroprevalence of 12.7% was observed with high prevalence of 30.4% in Maharashtra and least with 3.7% in Punjab. The results revealed that seroprevalance is not independent across the states for the samples with the history of abortion/reproductive/respiratory disorders (c2, 11.64), abortion/reproductive (c2, 49.11), abortion/respiratory (c2, 11.21) and apparently healthy animals (c2, 37.65). However, across the disease history revealed that the seroprevalence is not independent (c2, 95.62) and seroprevalence is independent across the age (c2, 0.58). This study supported that cattle have a role in maintaining a well-known reservoir for Leptospira Hardjo serovar and warrants an intensive control and surveillance programme for reducing leptospirosis in organised cattle dairy farms in India.