Seroepidemiologia da leptospirose em bovinos com transtornos reprodutivos do município de Montería, na Colômbia

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a descriptive study that determined the prevalence of leptospirosis in cattle with reproductive disorders in rural areas in Montería, Colombia. Serum samples were collected from 26 bulls and 137 cows from 28 farms with a history of reproductive problems, and analyzed by microscopic agglutination test in order to detect antibodies against <em>Leptospira. </em>Antigens from serovars <em>pomona, hardjo, canicola, grippotyphosa </em>and <em>icterohaemorrhagiae </em>were used. Forty-one percent (41%) of the sera tested positive for <em>Leptospira </em>at cut-off point 1:20. Prevalent serovars were <em>grippotyphosa </em>(29.85%) <em>hardjo </em>and <em>icterohaemorrhagiae </em>(20.8 and 16.41%). A chi-square test (x²) was performed to establish the relationship between seropositivity to <em>Leptospira </em>and the variables of gender, age, history of abortions and repetition of services of each animal, as well as the sampling location and production system of the farms. Seropositivity to <em>Leptospira </em>was 26.86% and 29.85% in the age groups of 3 to 4 years and 5 to 6 years, and of 43.2% in bovine > 7 years. Seroprevalence in aborted and non-aborted cows was similar (35 and 34%); likewise, seropositivity in cows with and without repetition of services was of 34 and 35%, respectively. Forty-one point seven percent (41.7%) of farms with a meat production system and 58.2% of farms with dual-purpose tested positive for different serovars. No dependency was found between seropositivity to <em>Leptospira </em>and the aforementioned variables (p > 05). Results indicate a high seroprevalence of leptospirosis in bovines with reproductive disorders in Montería.