Leptospirosis seroepidemiological study in horses used for urban traction

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the association of the occurrence of leptospirosis in horses employed for traction in urban areas of the city of Uberlândia-MG with the following risk factors: presence of rodents, contact with other animal species, resting place and sanitary management. The presence or absence of anti-Leptospira antibody was assessed in 79 horse blood samples by means of the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) in dark field. Information regarding the presence of rodents, the contact with other animal species, the resting place, and the sanitary management were obtained by means of a questionnaire. For being of categorical type, these variables were subjected to the multiple correspondence analysis. The rate of antibodies anti-Leptospira positivity was 44.30% and the most commonly found serovars were icterohaemorrhagiae (21.51%), hardjo (15.05%), and castellonis (10.75%). The presence of rodents, the contact with other animal species and the lack of sanitary management were associated with the horse infection, and the high frequency of anti-Leptospira agglutinins detected in serum samples from the analyzed horses showed that these animals are susceptible to the Leptospira interrogans serovars.