Seroprevalence of Leptospira Antibodies in Cattle Slaughtered for Sale in Some North Central States of Nigeria

Abstract

Leptospirosis, a disease of livestock, has great economic impact on the agricultural industry because it causes abortions, stillbirths, infertility, reduced milk production and death in livestock. Moreover, when successfully transmitted to man, it may result in multisystem febrile illness, with hepatic, renal and pulmonary involvement and high mortality rates. This research determined the sero-epidemiology of Leptospira antibodies using, Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) in slaughtered cattle in selected states of North Central Nigeria. A prevalence rate of 57.9% for Leptospira antibodies were recorded for the slaughtered cattle. The most prevalent circulating serovars in the study locations were Hardjo 65 (27.8%), followed by Grippotyphosa 60 (25.6%). Older cattle were more likely to be seropositive, p = 0.000002. However, no significance was observed in seropositive rates between bulls and cows. The data generated by this study will help provide baseline information, as well as give latest indications about the extent of the problem in the study areas, assist in control and prevention of the condition in cattle and ultimately disease in the susceptible population.

Seroprevalence of leptospirosis among slaughtered cattle in Thrissur, Kerala#

“…Cattle act as classic reservoirs of serovar Hardjo (Rajala et al, 2017;Loureiro and Lilenbaum, 2020). A similar observation was reported by Abiayi et al (2015) in slaughtered cattle in Nigeria where the predominant serovars were Hardjo (27.8 per cent) and Grippotyphosa (25.6 per cent) with the seroprevalence of 57.9 per cent. Natarajaseenivasan et al (2011) also found that, serovar Hardjo was one of the predominant serovars in cattle from samples collected from southern India.…”

Molecular detection and characterization of pathogenic Leptospira species in bats (Chiroptera) roosting in human habitats in Nigeria, West Africa

“…In Nigeria, antibodies to several pathogenic leptospires have been detected in livestock slaughtered for human consumption and in pets and rodents suggesting high risk of exposure and infection to humans (Abiayi et al, 2015;Ajayi et al, 2017Ajayi et al, , 2020Ngbede et al, 2012;Okewole & Ayoola, 2009;Udechukwu et al, 2021).…”

“…In Nigeria, there are several studies using serological or culture methods that reported the detection of Leptospira spp. with varying prevalence in humans (Ezeh et al, 1990;Ngbede et al, 2012), rodents (Ajayi et al, 2017;Diallo & Dennis, 1982;Udechukwu et al, 2021) and other animal species (Abiayi et al, 2015;Ajayi et al, 2020), supposing their involvement in the epidemiology of the disease in Nigeria. However, there are no documented molecular studies on leptospirosis in animals and men in Nigeria.…”

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“…(i.e. 23,558,674) of Nigeria"s population which is put at 173,905,439 and has been a major contributor to national net food production, Abiayi, et al [8].…”