Epidemiological status of bovine leptospirosis in the State of Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies against Leptospira spp and their geographic distribution and to identify the risk factors associated with this disease in cattle herds with reproductive activity in the state of Paraná. A total of 14 163 females aged ≥24 months originating from 1 926 herds that were not vaccinated against Leptospira spp were evaluated. To detect the Leptospira spp antibodies, all serum samples were submitted for a microscopic serum-agglutination test (MAT). An epidemiological questionnaire was performed at each farm visited to characterize the management practices and study the risk factors associated with the presence or absence of Leptospira spp. To perform geoprocessing, the geographical coordinates of each farm were recorded with a Global Positioning System (GPS), which were then used to create a map. The apparent prevalence of bovine leptospirosis in the herds was the parameter used to generate the final risk map.

Pathogenic Leptospira spp. Seroprevalence and Herd-Level Risk Factors Associated with Chilean Dairy Cattle

“…This study is the first stratified random survey to investigate the seroprevalence of Leptospira on dairy farms in Chile. On the one hand, the seroprevalence of pathogenic leptospires in lactating cows from dairies in Los Lagos and Los Rios regions was 5.3%, similar to the 4.3% reported in Spain [18] but lower to the 55.2% reported in Paraná and Sao Paulo states, in Brazil [11,15]. On the other hand, the herd-level seroprevalence was 42%, similar to the 43% reported in Spain for beef and milk herds [18].…”

“…For example, the prevalence levels were higher in Brazilian studies, in areas with higher-temperature environmental conditions (17-27 • C) and rainfall (1300-1893 mm). These differences in the prevalence levels, both at the individual level and at the herd level, could partially be explained by the cut-off point (1:100) used to interpret MAT results in Brazil [11][12][13]15,38], which was lower than the one we used. Another aspect that could explain the difference in the prevalence levels is the number of serovars used in the MAT panel in the different studies, since there could be an increased probability of detecting infected animals at the individual and herd levels if more serovars were included within the diagnostic panel.…”

“…Although its prevalence was low, it was present in small non- leptospira -vaccinated farms. In Brazil, Hashimoto et al [ 15 ] reported it as the second in importance in the State of Paraná, and in New Zealand, Yupiana et al [ 48 ] reported it as the third in importance. Besides, Faine et al [ 40 ] identified L. borgpetersenii serovar Tarassovi as an adapted and common serovar in pigs.…”

“…Several serological prevalence studies in cattle at individual or herd level are described, especially in areas where the presentation of Leptospirosis is high. For example, studies estimating individual seroprevalence in Brazilian cattle have reported a seroprevalence of 35.9% to 61.1% [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ] and a herd-level prevalence between 64.8% and 89.7% [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 15 ]. In Madagascar, an overall seroprevalence of 59.3% (95% CI = 52.0–66.2) was estimated; and in Jordan, an individual seroprevalence of 27.0% and an overall seroprevalence of 92% was estimated [ 16 ].…”

Spatial epidemiological approaches to inform leptospirosis surveillance and control: A systematic review and critical appraisal of methods

“…Livestock, rodents or wildlife animal infection data were often collected from animal sampling. Few studies reported the use of Kernel density risk maps ( n = 2; Filho et al, ; Hashimoto et al, ) and suitability maps ( n = 1; Dobigny et al, ). No spatial and temporal maps for animal leptospirosis were reported.…”