Seroepidemiological pattern of leptospirosis in bovine of South Gujarat, India

Aim: Seroepidemiological study of leptospirosis in cattle of various South Gujarat district (Navsari, Tapi, Surat, Valsad). Materials and Methods: Whole blood samples were collected randomly from different age groups, and breeds of cattle of either sex reared in different districts (Navsari, Surat, Tapi, Valsad) of South Gujarat. To obtain serum, whole blood was kept in slanting position in 9.0 ml plain vacutainers until serum extracted out of the whole blood. Then these 9.0 ml plain vacutainers were centrifuged at 7000 rpm for 10 min. The straw colored serum was then collected in 1.5 ml sterile cryo vials and aliquoted and stored at −20°C for microscopic agglutination test. Results: In the present study, overall 12.81% (51/398) seroprevalence were recorded with highest seroprevalence (47.06%, 24/51) from Valsad followed by Navsari (9.14%, 18/197), Surat (6.90%, 2/29) and Tapi (5.79%, 7/121) among cattle. The seroprevalence rate of breed and sex wise did not differ significantly (p≤0.05). Maximum incidence of seropositivity was found above 4 years (16.32%, 39/239) of age group followed by animals between 1 and 4 years (9.68%, 12/124). Thus, the age was significantly influencing the seropositivity (p≤0.05). In cattle out of 398 sera screened, 51 were positive with one or more serovars. The highest seropositivity was recorded against serovar Pomona (28.89%). Conclusions: Overall 12.81% seroprevalence of leptospirosis in apparently healthy and clinically ailing bovine of South Gujarat indicating potential zoonotic risk to farmers, labor, and animal owners.