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SEROLOGY FOR LEPTOSPIRA SP. IN CATTLE OF THE STATE OF PARAÍBA, BRAZIL

SOROLOGIA PARA LEPTOSPIRA SP. EM BOVINOS DO ESTADO DA PARAÍBA, BRASIL

ABSTRACT

A survey was conducted to estimate the frequency of Leptospira sp. infection in cattle in the State of Paraíba, Brazil. A random sample of 6 municipalities was chosen from each of 3 ecoregions of the state: the Agreste/Litoral, the Cariri/Curimatau and the Sertão. These 18 municipalities were broken down into quadrants and one property was selected at random from each quadrant. Random samples were collected from at least eight animals at each property, in four-age categories, summing at least 32 animals per property. All municipalities that were included in the study (100%) and 87.75% of the properties had at least one positive sample for one of the 15 different Leptospira sp. serovars (16 strains) studied. From 2,343 samples, 759 showed positive reaction to, at least, one of the 16 strains tested. Four hundred and seventy animals were positive to multiple strains. The serovar Hardjo, of the Sejroe serogroup, was the most frequent and accounted for 16.05% (95% CI 12.69% to 19.41%) of the positive results (376 positive reactions). There were differences in the frequency of positive results according to the two strains of serovar Hardjo used: strain Norma (15.62% 95% CI 12.38% to 18.86%), isolated in Brazil, and reference strain Hardjoprajitino (2.43% 95% CI 1.12% to 3.75%). The remaining serovars tested had frequencies lower than 2.8%. Results obtained in the present study confirmed that Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo is widely spread in the State of Paraíba, Brazil.

KEY WORDS
Leptospirosis; L. interrogans serovar Hardjo; epidemiology; cattle; Paraíba; Brazil

RESUMO

Foi realizada a estimativa de freqüência de infecção por Leptospira sp. em bovinos do Estado da Paraíba, Brasil. Seis municípios foram escolhidos ao acaso em cada uma das 3 ecorregiões do Estado: Agreste/Litoral, Cariri/Curimatau e Sertão. Estes 18 municípios foram divididos em quadrantes e uma propriedade foi selecionada por quadrante. As amostras de sangue foram coletadas aleatoriamente de, pelo menos, 32 animais por propriedade. Todos os municípios incluídos no estudo (100%) e 87,75% das propriedades apresentaram no mínimo uma amostra positiva para pelo menos uma das 15 diferentes sorovariedades de Leptospira sp. (16 amostras) testadas. Dos 2.343 animais examinados, 759 reagiram positivamente para pelo menos uma das 16 amostras de Leptospira sp. testadas. Quatrocentos e setenta animais reagiram positivamente para múltiplas amostras. A sorovariedade Hardjo, do sorogrupo Sejroe, foi a mais freqüente com 16,05% (95% IC – 12,69% a 19,41%) dos resultados positivos (376 reações positivas). Houve diferenças na freqüência dos resultados positivos para as amostras da sorovariedade Hardjo testadas: amostra Norma (15,62% 95% IC – 12,38% a 18,86%), isolada no Brasil, e a amostra de referência Hardjoprajitino (2,43% 95% IC – 1,12% a 3,75%). As demais sorovariedades apresentaram freqüências inferiores a 2,8%. Os resultados obtidos no presente estudo confirmam que Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo é amplamente distribuída no Estado da Paraíba, Brasil.

PALAVRAS-CHAVE
Leptospirose; L. interrogans serovar Hardjo; epidemiologia; bovinos; Paraíba; Brasil

INTRODUCTION

Leptospirosis is caused by one of the seven pathogenic species of Leptospira, which are distributed in 25 serogroups, divided into more than 190 serovars defined by antigenic affinity (LEVETT, 2001LEVETT, P.N. Leptospirosis. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, v.14, p.296-326, 2001.). Several serovars of Leptospira sp. have been isolated from cattle in Brazil, however, the serovar Hardjo has recently been found to be the most frequent serologically and the one that causes greater impact in the reproductive efficiency of cattle herds (VASCONCELLOS et al., 1997VASCONCELLOS, S.A.; BARBARINI, JUNIOR, O.; UMEHARA, O.; MORAIS, Z.M.; CORTEZ, A.; PINHEIRO, S.R.; FERREIRA, F.; FÁVERO, A.C.M.; FERREIRA NETO, J.S. Leptospirose bovina. níveis de ocorrência e sorotipos predominantes em rebanhos dos Estados de Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul e Mato Grosso do sul. Período de janeiro a abril de 1996. Arquivos do Instituto Biológico, São Paulo, v.64, p.7-15, 1997.). Infected animals can develop either an acute or chronic form of the disease. Infected herds can present low reproductive performance, temporary infertility, abortions, fetal mummifications and birth of weak calves, mastitis and reduced milk production (ELLIS, 1984ELLIS, W.A. Bovine leptospirosis in the tropics: Prevalence, pathogenesis and control. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, v.2, p.411-421, 1984., PRESCOTT; ZUERNER, 1993PRESCOTT, J.F.; ZUERNER, R.L. Leptospira. In: GYLES, C.L.; THOEN, C.O. Pathogenesis of bacterial infections in animals. 2nd ed. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1993. p.287-296.). All those manifestations can lead to major economical losses in Brazil due to its wide distribution (VASCONCELLOS et al., 1997VASCONCELLOS, S.A.; BARBARINI, JUNIOR, O.; UMEHARA, O.; MORAIS, Z.M.; CORTEZ, A.; PINHEIRO, S.R.; FERREIRA, F.; FÁVERO, A.C.M.; FERREIRA NETO, J.S. Leptospirose bovina. níveis de ocorrência e sorotipos predominantes em rebanhos dos Estados de Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul e Mato Grosso do sul. Período de janeiro a abril de 1996. Arquivos do Instituto Biológico, São Paulo, v.64, p.7-15, 1997.), as already reported in the State of Paraíba (LEITE et al., 2000LEITE, R.M.H.; LEITE, R.C.; BANDEIRA, D.A.; LAGE, A.P. Surto de Leptospirose em rebanhos bovinos no Estado da Paraíba. Ciência Veterinaria nos Tropicos, v.3, p.144-149, 2000.).

The Brazilian State of Paraíba is the most eastern point of the Americas. Paraíba holds a population of 3,305,616 inhabitants, covers an area of 56,584.6 km2, contains 223 municipalities and is located in a tropical climate. Cattle production is one of the major agricultural activities, with a total herd size of 1,327,826 animals (IBGE, 1998INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATISTICA. Censo Agropecuário 1996. Disponível em: <http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/cgr-bm/prtabr>. Acesso em: 25 out. 1998.
http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/cgr-bm/prta...
). Cattle production is mostly extensive, on semi arid soils with poor vegetation and low rain indices. According to the Comitê de Planejamento Agropecuário do Estado da Paraíba, there are three types of cattle regions in the State in line with the three ecological areas: the Agreste/Litoral region, the Cariri/Curimatau region and the Sertão region.

The objective of the present study was to estimate the occurrence of Leptospira sp. infecton in commercial cattle herds in the State of Paraíba, Brazil.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Sampling

A sample frame was developed containing a list of potential participants from both dairy and beef production properties (farm). To be eligible for inclusion in the study the property would have to hold at least 50 animals. Eligible properties were required to have information concerning health status, reproduction and management. Therefore, the sample frame was restricted to commercial cattle herds. Small-scale subsistence herders were not targeted by the present survey. Property managers were pre-screened for their willingness to participate. A random sample of six municipalities was chosen from each of three ecoregions (cattle breeding regions): the Agreste/Litoral region (1), the Cariri/Curimatau region (2) and the Sertão region (3) (Fig. 1). Six municipalities were randomly selected from each ecoregion: Alagoinha, Bananeiras, Fagundes, João Pessoa, Tacima and Umbuzeiro from ecoregion 1; Boqueirão, Campina Grande, Gurjão, Monteiro, Serra Branca and Soledade from ecoregion 2; Conceição, Patos, Piancó, Pombal, Riacho dos Cavalos and Souza from ecoregion 3. These 18 municipalities were divided in quadrants and one property was selected at random from each quadrant.

Table 1
Serovars of Leptospira sp. used in the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) for testing cattle from the State of Paraíba, Brazil.
Fig. 1
Ecoregions and Municipalities sampled for the study in the State of Paraíba, Brazil.

Animals

Blood samples, totaling at least 32 animals per property, were randomly collected from at least eight animals of each property of the following age categories: (1) 0 to 6 months, (2) 7 to 18 months, (3) 19 to 30 months and (4) more than 30 months From march to September of 2000 serum samples were collected through jugular venopunction and stored at minus 20º C until tested.

Serological testing

A battery of 15 different serovars (16 strains) of Leptospira sp. (Table 1) was used as antigen. Each strain was harvested from EMJH medium, after a seven-day incubation period at 27o C, with approximately 1-2 X 10 8 bacteria/mL, free of contaminants and of auto-agglutination. The choice of the serovars to be used as antigens was made based on reports of the most frequent leptospiral serovars serologically found in Brazil. Serum samples were tested by the Microscopic Agglutination Technique (MAT) (COLE et al., 1973COLE, J.R.; SULZER, C.R.; PURSELL, A.R. Improved Microtecnique for the leptospiral microscopic agglutination test. Applied Microbiology, v.25, p.976-980, 1973.; OIE, 2000OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DES EPIZOOTIES. Manual of Standards for Diagnóstic Test and Vaccines. 4th ed. Paris: OIE, 2000. Leptospirosis, p.198-217.). Reactions were read directly on microplate (Nunc, Denmark) with a microscope equipped with a dry condenser and a dark field, long distance objective (Axiolab, Carl Zeiss, Germany). Negative and positive sera and culture control standards were run in each assay. Sera were screened at 1:100 dilution and diluted on a two-fold basis up to obtain the final titer. Sera presenting 50% or more agglutinated Leptospira sp. per microscopic field at a given dilution were considered positive.

Microscopic agglutination test is the method recommended by OIE for the diagnosis of leptospirosis in animals. This test detects predominantly IgM and helps to identify the infecting serovar, which is essential for the establishment of a vaccination program (FAINE et al., 1999FAINE, S.; ADLER, B.; BOLIN, C.; PEROLAT, P. Leptospira and leptospirosis. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Medi. Sci., 1999. 272p., OIE, 2000OFFICE INTERNATIONAL DES EPIZOOTIES. Manual of Standards for Diagnóstic Test and Vaccines. 4th ed. Paris: OIE, 2000. Leptospirosis, p.198-217.). Vaccination, like infection, can stimulate specific anti-Leptospira sp. IgM shortly after use (GODDAR et al., 1991GODDARD, R.D.; LUFF, P.R.; THORNTON, D.H. The serological response of calves to Leptospira interrogans serovar hardjo vaccines and infection as measured by the microscopic agglutination test and anti-IgM and antiIgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Veterinary Microbiology, v. 26, p. 191-201, 1991.). In the present study, only a small percentage of herds vaccinated the animals against leptospirosis (LEITE et al., 2004LEITE, R.M.H.; LAGE, A.P.; JAYME, V.S.; MODENA, C.M. Perfil produtivo-sanitário de propriedades produtoras de bovinos do Estado da Paraíba, Brasil, 2000. Ciencia Animal Brasileira, v.5, p.199-209, 2004.) and none of these herds were sampled less than three month after vaccination.

In the present study, only in a small percentage of herds, the animals were vaccinated against leptospirosis (LEITE et al., 2004LEITE, R.M.H.; LAGE, A.P.; JAYME, V.S.; MODENA, C.M. Perfil produtivo-sanitário de propriedades produtoras de bovinos do Estado da Paraíba, Brasil, 2000. Ciencia Animal Brasileira, v.5, p.199-209, 2004.) and none of these herds were sampled before three month after vaccination. Therefore, the results obtained were not influenced by vaccine use.

Statistics

Frequencies, confidence intervals (CI), design effects and intracluster correlation coefficients were calculated according to BENNETT et al. (1991)BENNETT, S.; WOODS, T.; LIYANAGE, W.M.; SMITH, D.L. A simplified general method for cluster surveys of health in developing countries. World Health Statistics Quaterly, v.44, p.98-106, 1991..

RESULTS

All municipalities that were included in this study (100%) and 87.75% of the properties had at least one positive sample for one of the 15 different Leptospira sp. serovars studied (Table 2). Out of the 2,343 samples, 759 animals showed positive reactionto one of the 16 strains tested. Four hundred and seventy animals tested positively for multiple strains.

Table 2
Seroprevalence of Leptospira sp. serovars in 2,343 cattle in the State of Paraíba, Brazil.

The serovar Hardjo, of the Serjoe serogroup, was the most frequent and accounted for 16.05% (95% CI - 12.69% to 19.41%) of the positive results (376 positive reactions) obtained by summing positives for strain Norma (366) with positives for strain Hardjoprajitino (57) and positives for both (47). The serovar Hardjo Norma strain contributed to 15.62% of the reactions (95% CI - 12.38% to 18.86%) and the reference strain Hardjoprajitino to 2.43% (95% CI - 1.12% to 3.75%). Forty-seven animals tested positive for both serovar Hardjo strains, Norma and Hardjoprajitino, but all presented higher agglutinating titers for Norma strain.

Lower frequencies of infection were found for serovars Szwajizak (2.77%), Brastilava (2.30%), Tarassovi (1.62%), Wolffi (1.45%), Autumnalis (1.45%) and Hebdomadis (1.32%). The remaining serovars tested had frequencies of less than 1.0% (Table 2).

DISCUSSION

Some studies carried out in Brazil estimated the prevalence of Leptospira sp. infection in targeted higher-risk populations (MOREIRA et al., 1979MOREIRA, E.C.; SILVA, J.S.; VIANA, F.C.; SANTOS, W.L.M.; ANSELMO, F.P.; LEITE, R.C. Leptospirose bovina I. Aglutininas anti-leptospiras em soros sanguíneos de bovinos de Minas Gerais. Arquivos da Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, v.31, p.375-388, 1979.; DORIA et al., 1980DORIA, J.D.; VIEGAS, S.A.R.A.; VIEGAS, E.A., SANTOS, N.M., VIRGENS, N.C. Estudo sorológico sobre a leptospirose em bovinos no Estado da Bahia. Arquivos da Escola de Medicina Veterinária da Universidade Federal da Bahia, v.5, p.159-167, 1980.; MADRUGA et al., 1980MADRUGA, C.R.; AYCARDI, E.; PUTT, N. Freqüência de aglutininas antileptospiras em bovinosde corte da região sul de cerrado no Estado de Mato Grosso. Arquivos da Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, v.32, p.245-249, 1980.; RIBEIRO et al., 1988RIBEIRO, S.C.A.; GOUVEIA, M.A.V.; SILVA, P.L.; OLIVEIRA, P.R.; BARBOSA, F.C.; MAMEDE, D.O. Levantamento sorológico em dois surtos de leptospirose bovina em Uberlândia, Triângulo Mineiro. Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, v.40, p.415-423, 1988.; LILENBAUM et al., 1995LILENBAUM, W.; SANTOS, M.R.C.; BARBOSA, A. V. Leptospirose em reprodução animal:II – Bovinos do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Ciência Veterinária, v.2, p.1-6, 1995.;VASCONCELLOSet al., 1997). In the most recent ones, LILENBAUM et al. (1995)LILENBAUM, W.; SANTOS, M.R.C.; BARBOSA, A. V. Leptospirose em reprodução animal:II – Bovinos do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Ciência Veterinária, v.2, p.1-6, 1995. and VASCONCELLOS et al. (1997)VASCONCELLOS, S.A.; BARBARINI, JUNIOR, O.; UMEHARA, O.; MORAIS, Z.M.; CORTEZ, A.; PINHEIRO, S.R.; FERREIRA, F.; FÁVERO, A.C.M.; FERREIRA NETO, J.S. Leptospirose bovina. níveis de ocorrência e sorotipos predominantes em rebanhos dos Estados de Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul e Mato Grosso do sul. Período de janeiro a abril de 1996. Arquivos do Instituto Biológico, São Paulo, v.64, p.7-15, 1997., the serovar Hardjo was the most prevalent followed by serovar Wolffi.

Although it is difficult to compare those studies with the current one because of differences in sample design and Leptospira sp. serovars tested, this study also found serovar Hardjo to be the most frequent and widely disseminated in cattle in the State of Paraíba, Brazil. Conversely, there was a lower frequency of many other serovars such as Szwajizak, Brastilava, Tarassovi, Wolffi, Autumnalis and Hebdomadis (Table 2) already detected at lower rates in other studies in brazilian cattle (GUIDA et al., 1959GUIDA, V.O.; SANTA ROSA, C.A.; DÁPICE, M.O. Pesquisa de aglutininas anti-leptospira no soro de bovinos do Estado de São Paulo. Arquivos do Instituto Biológico, São Paulo, v.26, p.109-118, 1959.; SANTA ROSA et al., 1961SANTA ROSA, C.A.; CASTRO, A.F.P.; TROISE, C. Leptospirose bovina; inquérito sorológico na região de Campinas. Arquivos do Instituto Biologico, São Paulo, v.28, p.169-173, 1961.;MOREIRA et al., 1979MOREIRA, E.C.; SILVA, J.S.; VIANA, F.C.; SANTOS, W.L.M.; ANSELMO, F.P.; LEITE, R.C. Leptospirose bovina I. Aglutininas anti-leptospiras em soros sanguíneos de bovinos de Minas Gerais. Arquivos da Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, v.31, p.375-388, 1979.; GIORGI et al., 1981GIORGI, W.; TERUYA, J.M.; SILVA, A.S.; GENOVEZ, M.E. Leptospirose: Resultados das soroaglutinações realizadas no Instituto Biológico de São Paulo durante os anos de 1974/1980. Biológico, São Paulo, v.47, p.299-309, 1981., MOREIRA, 1994MOREIRA, E.C. Avaliação de métodos para erradicação de leptospiroses em bovinos leiteiros. 1994. 94f. Tese (Doutorado em Ciência Animal – Área de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Epidemiologia) Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 1994.). These results confirm the status of cattle as the usual reservoir for serovar Hardjo and reinforce that its high frequency may interfere with cattle production (PRESCOTT et al., 1993PRESCOTT, J.F.; ZUERNER, R.L. Leptospira. In: GYLES, C.L.; THOEN, C.O. Pathogenesis of bacterial infections in animals. 2nd ed. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1993. p.287-296.; FAINE et al., 1999FAINE, S.; ADLER, B.; BOLIN, C.; PEROLAT, P. Leptospira and leptospirosis. 2nd ed. Melbourne: Medi. Sci., 1999. 272p.; LEITE et al., 2000LEITE, R.M.H.; LEITE, R.C.; BANDEIRA, D.A.; LAGE, A.P. Surto de Leptospirose em rebanhos bovinos no Estado da Paraíba. Ciência Veterinaria nos Tropicos, v.3, p.144-149, 2000.).

Using the same sampling frame of this study,LEITE et al. (2004)LEITE, R.M.H.; LAGE, A.P.; JAYME, V.S.; MODENA, C.M. Perfil produtivo-sanitário de propriedades produtoras de bovinos do Estado da Paraíba, Brasil, 2000. Ciencia Animal Brasileira, v.5, p.199-209, 2004. reported that 10.1% to 19% of the herds experienced reproductive problems as abortions, stillbirths, and weak calves. Although these signs could be related to leptospirosis, this disease was not known by herd owners and workers in Paraíba and only 8.7% of the studied herds were vaccinated against leptospirosis (LEITE at al., 2004LEITE, R.M.H.; LAGE, A.P.; JAYME, V.S.; MODENA, C.M. Perfil produtivo-sanitário de propriedades produtoras de bovinos do Estado da Paraíba, Brasil, 2000. Ciencia Animal Brasileira, v.5, p.199-209, 2004.). Recognition of the disease is the first and one of the most important steps in a control program. This absence of disease recognition, which precludes the adoption of control strategies in affected herds, is in sharp contrast to the leptospirosis 16% frequency found in the present study and the of disease outbreaks detection ,with reproductive and bloody mastitis signs in the Paraíba State (LEITE et al., 2000LEITE, R.M.H.; LEITE, R.C.; BANDEIRA, D.A.; LAGE, A.P. Surto de Leptospirose em rebanhos bovinos no Estado da Paraíba. Ciência Veterinaria nos Tropicos, v.3, p.144-149, 2000.). Hence, control programs for leptospirosis in Paraíba must be preceded by educational programs. Hence, in Paraíba, the control of leptospirosis, must be preceded by an educational program.

Results for the two serovar Hardjo strains used were markedly different, with strain Norma yielding most of positive animals. Diagnostic differences between Hardjo strains Norma and Hardjoprajitino, the reference strain, were already observed, with lesser or greater intensity, in other cattle and sheep populations from other states in Brazil (MOREIRA, 1994MOREIRA, E.C. Avaliação de métodos para erradicação de leptospiroses em bovinos leiteiros. 1994. 94f. Tese (Doutorado em Ciência Animal – Área de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Epidemiologia) Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 1994., HERRMANN et al., 2004HERRMANN, G. P., LAGE, A. P., MOREIRA, E. C., H ADDAD, J. P. A., RESENDE, J. R., RODRIGUES, R. O., LEITE, R. C. Soroprevalência de aglutininas anti-Leptospira spp em ovinos nas mesorregiões Sudeste e Sudoeste do Estado Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Ciência Rural, v. 34, p. 443 – 448, 2001.). Strain Norma was isolated in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil and was identified by monoclonal antibodies and PCR as L. interrogans serovar Hardjo genotype Hardjoprajitino (Korver – personal communication1 1 Hans Korver - Royal Tropical Institut (KIT) – 39 Heibergdreef – 1105 AZ Amsterdam – The Nederlands ) (MOREIRA, 1994MOREIRA, E.C. Avaliação de métodos para erradicação de leptospiroses em bovinos leiteiros. 1994. 94f. Tese (Doutorado em Ciência Animal – Área de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Epidemiologia) Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 1994.). The differences found were probably due to the low passage and origin of strain Norma. Being isolated in 1991, strain Norma has a smaller number of “in vitro” passages than strain Hardjoprajitino that was isolated in 1938 from a man in Sumatra (WOLFF, 1969WOLFF, J.W. History of Leptospira hardjo. American Journal of Veterinary Research, v.30, p.485, 1969.). Furthermore, the antigenic relationship between strain Norma and L. interrogans serovar Hardjo infecting cattle in Brazil is probably closer than that of strain Hardjoprajitino, because it was isolated in the same country and from cattle (MOREIRA, 1994MOREIRA, E.C. Avaliação de métodos para erradicação de leptospiroses em bovinos leiteiros. 1994. 94f. Tese (Doutorado em Ciência Animal – Área de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Epidemiologia) Escola de Veterinária da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 1994.). FONTANALS et al. (2001)FONTANALS, A.;LORENETE, P.; SAMARITANO, L.; MUNDO, S. Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona: deteccíon de diferencias antigénicas entre tres aislamientos regionales de bovinos y una cepa de referencia. Revista Argententina de Microbiologia, v.33, p.108-112, 2001. studying different isolated of L. interrogans serovar Pomona from cattle found similar results. FONTANALS et al.(2001)FONTANALS, A.;LORENETE, P.; SAMARITANO, L.; MUNDO, S. Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona: deteccíon de diferencias antigénicas entre tres aislamientos regionales de bovinos y una cepa de referencia. Revista Argententina de Microbiologia, v.33, p.108-112, 2001. found similar results studying different cattle isolates of L. interrogans serovar Pomona. These results suggest an increase in sensitivity of diagnosis of infected cattle by the use of a local isolated strain of serovar Hardjo.

Risk analysis on the spatial and age distribution has already been performed in the same set of data for serovar Hadjo infection (THOMPSON et al., 2006THOMPSON, J.A.; LEITE, R.M.H.; GONCALVES, V.S.P.; LEITE, R.C.; BANDEIRA, D.A.; HERRMANN, G.P.; M OREIRA, E.C.; PRADO, P.E.; LOBATO, Z.I.P.; BRITO, C.P.T.; LAGE, A.P. Spatial hierarchical variances and age covariances for seroprevalence to Leptospira interrogans serovar Hardjo, BoHV-1 and BVDV for cattle in the State of Paraiba, Brazil. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, v.17, p.290-301, 2006.). The effect of ecoregion was observed; higher prevalence was reported in the Agreste/Litoral region, which is closer to the coast, showing higher humidity than the other regions studied (SEMARH/LMRS-PB, 2002PARAÍBA. Secretaria Extraordinária do Meio Ambiente, dos Recursos Hídricos e Minerais/Laboratório de Metereologia. Recursos Hídricos e Sensoriamento Remoto da Paraíba. Disponível em: <http://www.lmrs-semarh.ufpb.br/meteoro/prec_ano.html>. Acesso em: 3 jan. 2002.
http://www.lmrs-semarh.ufpb.br/meteoro/p...
). An age effect was also observed. Animals younger than seven months have a lower prevalence rate than older ones. The prevalence rate increases with age in animals older than 6 month, which is compatible with a greater time of exposure in older animals.

In conclusion, the present survey confirms that serovar Hardjo is the most frequent in cattle in the State of Paraíba, Brazil, followed by other serovars with lower frequencies, namely Szwajizak, Brastilava, Tarassovi, Wolffi, Autumnalis and Hebdomadis. Likewise, results strengthen the use of serovar Hardjo strain Norma as the most sensitive for the diagnostic of Leptospira sp. infection in cattle in Brazil.

  • 1
    Hans Korver - Royal Tropical Institut (KIT) – 39 Heibergdreef – 1105 AZ Amsterdam – The Nederlands

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

RMHL, ECM, and APL are indebted to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq for the fellowships. This study was sponsored by Secretaria de Agricultura do Estado da Paraíba (SAIA) and Fundação de Estudo e Pesquisa em Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia – FEP/MVZ Coordenação Preventiva. The farmers of the State of Paraíba, Brazil, which participated in this study, are acknowledged.

REFERENCES

  • BENNETT, S.; WOODS, T.; LIYANAGE, W.M.; SMITH, D.L. A simplified general method for cluster surveys of health in developing countries. World Health Statistics Quaterly, v.44, p.98-106, 1991.
  • COLE, J.R.; SULZER, C.R.; PURSELL, A.R. Improved Microtecnique for the leptospiral microscopic agglutination test. Applied Microbiology, v.25, p.976-980, 1973.
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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    10 Jan 2022
  • Date of issue
    Jul-Sep 2007

History

  • Received
    27 Sept 2006
  • Accepted
    24 Aug 2007
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