engleski

Prevalence of leptospiral antibodies in wild ungulates from continental part of Croatia

In continental part of Croatia, over the period of seven (2002-2009) years, serum samples of 485 wild ungulates were collected and analyzed for the presence of leptospiral antibodies. Using Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) we searched for specific antibodies to twelve (12) different Leptospira spp serovars. At different sera dilution (ranging from 100 to 3200) 121 samples (24.9%) were found positive to at least one pathogenic serovar, and antibodies to nine Leptospira spp. serovars (Australis, Pomona, Ballum, Tarassovi, Sejroe, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Saxkoebing, and Bataviae) were detected. In total we recorded 157 positive reactions in which the majority (N=109 ; 69.4%) of them were found positive at basic dilution (BD = 100), whereas 30.6% (N=48) reactions were detected positive at higher dilutions. Most frequently found serovar was Australis (33.3%), followed by serovars Pomona (21.8%) and Ballum (19.3%), while serovars Australis and Pomona recorded the highest AB titer (3200) and showed statistical significant frequency in cross-reactions (recorded in 20.8% cases). According to ungulate species, in red deer (Cervus elaphus) we found antibodies against six different leptospiral serovars in 24 out of 126 analyzed sera (19.04%). The most frequently recorded antibodies were for serovars Pomona (22.3%) and Ballum (19.6%), while the highest titer was recorded for serovar Sejroe (1:800). In analyzed roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) 41 samples low level of leptospiral antibodies (7.07%) was determined, with just antibodies for two serovars - Australis and Sejroe. In wild boar (Sus scrofa), leptospiral antibodies were detected in 101 of 286 analyzed samples (35.3%), with antibodies for nine antigen serovars. The most frequently found serovars were Australis (48.7%) and Pomona (22.7%) and these serovars also recorded highest titer (1:3200). According to aerial distribution the highest percentage of positive wild ungulates samples originated from lowland habitats in regions of Posavina (Novska - 46.8%, Kutina - 45.3%) and Slavonija and Baranja (Tikveš - 43.6%).

prevalence; leptospiral antibodies; wild ungulates; Croatia

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