Seroprevalence of Bovine Leptospirosis in Odisha, India. World Journal of Veterinary Science

Abstract

In this study, a total of 120 non purposive serum samples (Cows-68; Bullocks-32; Bulls-20) randomly collected from different breeds of bovine (Cross breed- 41; Indigenous- 61 and Non-descript-18) in six districts (Bargarh-40; Angul-15, Koraput-22, Boudh-14, Nayagarh-11, Jagatsinghpur-18) of Odisha by field veterinary officers during surveys from April to May 2013 were included. These samples were tested at 1:100 dilution in microscopic agglutination test (MAT) using live antigens of 14 reference leptospiral serovars in order to investigate the seroprevalence of bovine leptospirosis. The overall seroprevalence of 42.5% (51/120=CI: 95% 34.0 to 51.4) with 48.5% in cows, 28.1% in bullocks and 45.0% in bulls was observed. The overall analysis of chi-square test revealed that seroprevalance in bovine are associated with age (χ2 =5.78, p<0.10), whereas not associated with breed type and health status. Among the targeted districts, high prevalence was observed in Nayagarh (81.8%) followed by Bargarh (47.5%), Jagatsinghpur (44.4 %) and Boudh (42.8%). In general, the prevalence across the sample regions was significant (χ2 =12.45, p<0.05) indicating the prevalalence was associated with regions. Out of 51 reacted sera, 13 samples showed reactivity with more than one serovars representing 25.5%. The predominant leptospiral antibodies determined against frequency distribution of the serovars were: Australis (50.9%); Hardjo (23.5%); Canicola, Tarassovi and Kaup (7.8%); Pomona, Hurstbridge (5.9%); Bankinang, Javanica, Hebdomadis and Pyrogenes (3.9%); and Icterohaemorrhagiae, Grippotyphosa and Shermani (2.0%). This study supports that bovines may have a role in maintaining Australis serovar apart from being a well known reservoir for Hardjo serovar in Odisha state, India