Seroprevalence and risk factors for leptospirosis in cattle, sheep, and goats at consorted rearing from the State of Piauí, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

Leptospirosis is an endemic disease in Latin America, caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. It is considered one of the main causes responsible for the negative economic impact on global livestock by causing reproductive problems. The research aimed to determine the prevalence of leptospirosis in cattle, sheep, and goats at consorted rearing in the micro-region of Teresina, Piauí state, northeastern Brazil, as well as to identify prevalent serovars and risk factors associated with seroprevalence. Serum samples were analyzed in 336 sheep, 292 goats, and 253 cattle using microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Overall, 378 samples were positive to MAT, with seroprevalence of 42.9%. The prevalences in cattle, sheep, and goats were 50.5, 40.5, and 34.6%, respectively. All herds presented at least one seropositive animal; the Hardjo/Wolffi serovar association was the most common in cattle and Icterohaemorrhagiae in goats and sheep. Beef production (OR = 4.9), cattle herd over 35 animals (OR = 4.0), feeding on pasture (OR = 6.4), weir and/or stream as water source (OR = 2.1), and no veterinary services (OR = 2.9) were risk factors for cattle infection. For sheep, intensive management system (OR = 5.3), suspended slatted facilities (OR = 2.2), more than 20 sheep in reproductive age (OR = 1.9), and absence of deworming (OR = 3.5) were the risk factors, while for goats, the identified risk factors were sheep herd over 52 animals (OR = 1.9) and no veterinary services (OR = 1.8). We conclude that the infection was spreading in consorted herds in this region. Thus, it would be interesting and important to conduct educative activities to farmers on the economic impacts of this disease and the need of preventive and control strategies mainly focused on sanitary measures and animal handling.

Seroprevalence and predominant serogroups of Leptospira sp. in serological tests of ruminants in northeastern Brazil

“…Seropositivity was revealed to be high in cattle, similar to the results reported by Martins and Lilenbaum (2013) in Rio de Janeiro, with a frequency of 23%; Campos et al (2017) in Piauí, with 50%; Pinto et al (2016) in a systematic review in Latin America, with 44.2%; Pimenta et al (2014) in Paraíba, with 61.1%; and Silva et al (2012) in Maranhão, with 35.9%. These results are similar to those of the present study, and indicate that the disease, in fact, circulates in the studied cattle herds, emphasizing the impact of this agent on the health of these animals and, consequently, on public health.…”

“…Serjoe was the predominant serogroup in cattle, being frequently mentioned in several epidemiological surveys in Brazil and in other parts of the world (MARTINS; LILENBAUM, 2013;MENEGAS et al, 2013;PINTO et al, 2015PINTO et al, , 2016TAGLIABUE et al, 2016;CORREIA et al, 2017;CAMPOS et al, 2017). Bovine animals are recognized maintenance hosts of this serogroup, responsible for the development of chronic disease and subclinical persistent reproductive tract infection.…”

“…Its presence in herds is related to direct transmission among animals through urine and vaginal secretions LILENBAUM, 2013. There were also reactions to the Icterohaemorrhagiae and Tarassovi serogroups, which have synanthropic rodents and pigs as maintenance hosts, respectively, suggesting that the presence of rodents plays a fundamental role in environmental contamination (CAMPOS et al, 2017), as well as the contact between cattle and pigs (STRUTZBERG-MINDER; KREIENBROCK, 2011). The frequencies for goats and sheep were 8.3% and 7.9%, respectively.…”

“…Martins and Lilenbaum (2013) evaluated several studies conducted in Rio de Janeiro over a period of 20 years to diagnose leptospirosis in dogs, rats, cattle, horses, goats, sheep, pigs, and wild mammals. Campos et al (2017) analyzed serum samples from sheep, goats, and cattle from the state of Piauí between 2013 and 2015. In Italy, Tagliabue et al (2016) epidemiologically evaluated leptospirosis based on serological data from cattle, buffaloes, horse, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs and wild animals from 10 laboratories between 2010 and 2011.…”

Seroprevalence and risk factors of Leptospira serovar Pomona and Leptospira serovar Hardjo infection in dairy cows in Jordan

“…For example, in a large survey of slaughtered cattle conducted in the Unites States, the prevalence rates were 22% and 15% for Leptospira serovar Pomona and serovar Hardjo infection, respectively [18]. In Brazil, the herd-level and cow-level prevalence rates were 100% and 42.86%, respectively [19]. This great variation in the prevalence rates of leptospirosis over the world is most likely due to variation in geographical location, management systems, husbandry practices, different breeds of animals, levels of natural immunity and disease resistance among studied populations [20].…”