Faculty of Veterinary Medicine University of Zagreb
Abstract
The seroprevalence of leptospirosis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) reared for meat in semi-intensive and extensive managed farms in Trinidad was determined. All sera were tested for specific antibodies against 17 internationally recognized serovars of Leptospira using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Animals with titres greater or equal to 100 were considered as seropositive indicating exposure to Leptospira and those with titres greater or equal to 800 were interpreted as cases of acute leptospirosis. Of a total of 226 apparently healthy water buffalo from five major farms in Trinidad tested, 33 (14.6%) were seropositive with titres ranging from 100 to 400. Three (60.0%) of 5 farms had seropositive animals with seropositivity rates ranging from 2.0% (1 of 50) on Farm A to 32.7% (16 of 49) on Farm B. The difference was statistically significant (P0.05; X2) effect on infection rate. The prevalent antibodies to serovars of
Leptospira were farm-specific with specific antibodies to serovars Copenhageni and Georgia being predominant on Farm B having been detected in 10 (62.5%) and 9 (56.3%) respectively of 16 seropositive animals. On Farm D however, also with 16 seropositive animals, specific antibodies to serovars Patoc and Bratislava were most frequently detected, found in 11 (68.8%) and 5 (31.3%) respectively of seropositive animals. This is the first documentation of leptospirosis in water buffalo in the Caribbean region and the health risk posed to farm workers, abattoir workers and veterinarians cannot be ignored.Određivana je serološka prevalencija leptospiroze u indijskog bivola (Bubalus bubalis) uzgajanoga za meso u poluintenzivnoj i ekstenzivnoj proizvodnji na Trinidadu. Uzorci seruma bili su pretraženi mikroskopskom aglutinacijom na specifi čna protutijela za 17 međunarodno važnih serovarova leptospira. Životinje s titrom ≥1:100 smatrane su serološki pozitivnima što znači da su bile izložene infekciji leptospirama, dok su one s titrom ≥1:800 smatrane akutno zaražene leptospirama. Ustanovljeno je da su 33 (14,6%) bivola bila serološki pozitivna u titru od 1:100 do 1:400 od ukupno 226 pretraženih klinički zdravih indijskih bivola podrijetlom s
pet velikh farmi na Trinidadu. Serološki pozitivne životinje ustanovljene su na tri od pet pretraženih farmi sa stopom serološke pozitivnosti od 2% (1 od 50) na farmi A, do 32,7% (16 od 49) na farmi B. Razlika je bila statistički značajna (P0,05; X2). Nalaz protutijela za određeni serovar leptospira bilo je specifi čan za farmu. Tako su protutijela za serovarove Kopenhagen i Georgia pretežito dokazana na farmi B, s tim da su za serovar Kopenhagen bila dokazana u 10 (62,5%), a za serovar Georgia u 9 (56,3%) od 16 serološki pozitivnih životinja. Međutim, na farmi D gdje je također ustanovljeno 16 serološki pozitivnih životinja, najčešće su dokazana protutijela za serovarove Patoc i Bratislava. Protutijela za serovar Patoc dokazana su u 11 (68,8%), a za serovar Bratislava u pet (31,3%) bivola. Ovo je prvi dokaz leptospiroze u indijskih bivola na Karibima što predstavlja rizik za infekciju u farmskih i klaoničkih radnika te veterinara
