TITLE:
Canine Leptospirosis Serology in Southern Mexico City
AUTHORS:
Ignacio Martínez-Barbabosa, Edubiel Arturo Alpizar-Sosa, Dolores Guadalupe Gavaldón-Rosas, Luís Pedro Moles-Cervantes, Marcia Gutiérrez Cárdenas, Rafael García-González, Michael Shea, Ana María Fernández-Presas
KEYWORDS:
Leptospira, Leptospirosis, Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Dogs
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Medical Microbiology,
Vol.6 No.4,
December
21,
2016
ABSTRACT: Background:
Leptospirosis is an important zooanthroponotic disease spread worldwide which
infection is recognized as a re-emergent disease. Leptospirosis is a systemic disease
of humans and domestic animals, mainly dogs, cattle and swine, characterized by
fever, renal and hepatic insufficiency, pulmonary manifestations and reproductive
failure. Objective: To
study the
seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in an urban
canine population. Materials and Methods: The study was performed in March 2014 in stray dogs
that had been captured in the districts of Coyoacan, Iztapalapa, Iztacalco and
Benito Juarez in Mexico City; 117 dogs were analyzed, from each of which 5 ml of
blood were obtained. Serology was performed using a MAT test (Microscopic
Agglutination Test), finding that the antigens corresponded to 13 serotypes of Leptospirainterrogans. Three age groups
were formed: Group 1) younger than a year (n = 28),
Group 2) 1 to 6 years (n = 75), and Group 3) older than 6 years (n = 14). Results: Of the analyzed sera, 28.2% were
seropositive to one or more Leptospira serotypes, 74% of the positive seracoagglutinated with two or more serotypes. The most frequent
serotypes were: Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae and Portland-vere. Serotypes Canicola, Pyrogenes, and Bratislava resulted statistically significant (p 0.001).
The presence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in the blood of animals of 1 to 6 years resulted with a p 0.001. The sera from
Iztapalapa reacted to nine serotypes. Conclusion: The 28.2% of seropositivity indicates Leptospira transmission in the canine population that was studied
could exhibit a potential public health risk.