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PubMed2001

Serological study of the frequency of leptospiral infections among dairy cows in farms with suboptimal reproductive efficiency in Galicia, Spain.

Between March 1996 and September 1997, 15 farms located in Galicia (NW Spain) and experiencing suboptimal reproductive efficiency were visited and blood samples were obtained from all the lactating cows (n=442). Additionally, 1060 samples were obtained monthly from a cohort of 219 lactating cows belonging to nine of the farms between March 1996 and April 1997. All the samples were tested by microscopic agglutination (MAT) using live antigens representing the following Leptospira interrogans serogroups: Australis, Autumnalis, Ballum, Canicola, Grippotyphosa, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Louisiana, Pomona, Sejroe, Shermani and Tarassovi. Eighty-one of the 442 cows were positive against one or more serogroups (P=18.33%). Serologically, L. bratislava and L. grippotyphosa were detected as the most prevalent serovars (P=7.92 and 7.69%, respectively) and as the serovars against which the probability of seroconversion was highest (P=0.27 and 0.25, for a 12-month period, respectively) among those studied. The proportional hazards regression method was used for evaluating the seasonal trend of seroconversions against these two serovars. The risk of seroconversion against L. grippotyphosa was significantly higher during spring. The risk of seroconversion against L. bratislava did not differ significantly among seasons. Our results suggest that infections by L. bratislava did not follow, among the study animals and during the study period, the pattern typically described for non-adapted serovars, pointing out the possibility that some strains of this serovar could behave as adapted serovars.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1997

[Frequency and cost of health problems in Swiss dairy cows and their calves (1993-1994)].

Between July 1993 and July 1994 morbidity and management information related to dairy cows and their calves up to the age of 8 weeks were recorded in 113 randomly selected dairy herds. Also recorded were any costs incurred through disease and prevention. Blood and faeces were analysed with respect to selected pathogens. The health problems most frequently diagnosed in cows were reproductive and udder diseases. Calves suffered most often from diarrhea, omphalitis and pneumonia. The directly disease-related costs per cow-year on average amounted to CHF 139.44 and CHF 4.18 per calf. For prevention, farmers spent on average CHF 10.18 per cow-year. Results from the laboratory analyses indicate that in 68.1% of the farms antibodies against Leptospira hardjo and in 61.9% against Coxiella burnetii were detected. In 8.0% of the farms antibodies against Mycobacterium paratuberculosis were found. Antibodies against BVD virus was present in 99.4% of the farms. Cows from 63.7% farms were infected with gastrointestinal strongylids. Veterinary assistance was required on average 1.96 times per cow-year. In almost all reproductive and puerperal disease cases a veterinarian was consulted while lameness in the majority of cases was treated by the owner. The veterinary profession was hardly ever involved in disease prevention.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Immunological characteristics of the glycolipid antigen of Leptospira interrogans serovar lai.

The protective antigen (PAg), a glycolipid substance, was extracted from Leptospira interrogans serovar lai strain 017 with a chloroform-methanol-water (1:2:0.8 [vol/vol/vol]) solution and partially purified by silica gel column chromatography. The PAg was not detected by Coomassie brilliant blue staining in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis but was observed as a smearlike band, which corresponded to a 24- to 30-kilodalton standard protein, by silver staining. The outer envelope (OE) fraction showed the same band, suggesting that the PAg was one of the chemical components of the OE. The immunogenicity and protective activity of the PAg were compared with those of the OE. The PAg as well as the OE and whole cells was able to induce agglutinating antibody against L. interrogans. Furthermore, the immune sera exhibited opsonic activity against L. interrogans, as observed by measurement of chemical luminescence derived from reactive oxygen. The PAg exhibited protective activity in hamsters challenged with lethal doses of L. interrogans. Therefore, the antigen may be useful as a component vaccine against leptospiral infection.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed2002

Common infecting leptospiral serovars in and around Pune, Maharashtra.

Leptospirosis is a disease with protean manifestations. The present study was conducted in Pune to examine the possibility of leptospiral infection among a group of patients with fever of undetermined origin and to identify the common infecting serovars. Serological evidence of leptospirosis was found in 22 of the 118 (18.6%) patients with the help of microagglutination test (MAT) using a battery of 9 antigens. The serovars responsible for infection included autumnalis in eight cases, copenhageni in six, pomona in three, grippotyphosa in two and australis, batavia and canicola in one case each. Thus, there appears to be a focus of leptospirosis in and around Pune with autumnalis and copenhagni as the common infecting serovars.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1997

Identification of a 35-kilodalton serovar-cross-reactive flagellar protein, FlaB, from Leptospira interrogans by N-terminal sequencing, gene cloning, and sequence analysis.

During the screening of antibodies to pathogenic leptospires, a murine monoclonal antibody (designated M138) was found to react with various serovars. An antigen of approximately 35 kDa from Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona, which reacted strongly with M138, was characterized by N-terminal amino acid sequencing and identified as a flagellin, a class B polypeptide subunit (FlaB) of the periplasmic flagella. The gene encoding the FlaB protein, flaB, was amplified from the genomic DNA of several pathogenic serovars by PCR with a single pair of oligonucleotide primers, suggesting that FlaB is highly conserved among these serovars. Cloning and sequence analysis of flaB from serovar pomona revealed that it contains an 849-bp open reading frame with a G + C content of 46.88% which encodes a 283-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular mass of 31.297 kDa and a predicted pI of 9.065. A sequence comparison of flagellin proteins revealed that the amino acid sequence is most variable in the central portion of the serovar pomona FlaB, which is believed to contain specific sequence information and which may thus be useful in the design of DNA or synthetic peptide probes suitable for the detection of infection with pathogenic leptospires.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1981

A serological survey of Leptospira interrogans serotype pomona in Alberta and Saskatchewan striped skunks and possible transmission between cattle and skunks.

The range of known occurrence of Leptospira interrogans serotype pomona is extended to Alberta in striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis); no evidence of L. sejroe was found. Reacting sera from skunks were confined to the southern portion of Alberta and adjacent Saskatchewan, although a number of reactors were found sufficiently further north in Saskatchewan suggesting that a different mode of infection may be functioning there. Of 95 skunk sera from near a dairy farm infected with serotype pomona 40% were reactors. Of 438 skunk sera from other areas only 5.7% were reactors; that difference was suggestive of transmission from cattle to skunks on the dairy farm. Of 22 skunk sera collected near the dairy farm in summer none were reactors, whereas 52% of skunk sera taken the previous and following winters were. That seasonal difference was not evident among sera from other locations.

Alberta↗
PubMed1988

Seroprevalence and association with abortion of leptospirosis in cattle in Ontario.

Sera were collected using a systematic random sampling from 348 cattle herds in Ontario, in proportion to the cattle population in different areas. One cow in five from 296 dairy herds and one in three from 52 beef herds were sampled. The sera were analyzed for prevalence of antibodies to Leptospira interrogans serovar grippotyphosa, hardjo, icterohaemorhagiae and pomona using the microscopic agglutination test. Herd seroprevalence (one or more animals with titer greater than or equal to 80) in beef and dairy herds combined was grippotyphosa 2%, hardjo 13.8%, icterohaemorrhagiae 10.1% and pomona 25.8%; 39% of all herds showed evidence of leptospiral infection with one or more serovars; 44.2% of 52 beef herds had serological evidence of infection with serovar hardjo compared to 8.4% of 296 dairy herds (P less than 0.0001). Seroprevalence of other serovars was not significantly different between beef and dairy herds. The proportion of beef animals seropositive for hardjo and for pomona increased with age, particularly for hardjo; 26.5% of beef animals aged nine years or over were seropositive for hardjo. Dairy animals showed a significant rise of hardjo but not pomona titers with age. The seroprevalence of pomona infection was significantly higher in dairy cattle in eastern Ontario than in other regions. Thirty-four (6.1%) of 553 aborted bovine fetuses had leptospires detected by immunofluorescence techniques. Sixty-five percent of these fetuses were from submissions made between November and January. Leptospires were identified as serovar hardjo by specific immunofluorescence. There appeared, however, to be a paradoxical serological response in that eight aborting cows had antibody titers to pomona rather than hardjo.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Abortion, Veterinary↗
PubMed1999

Coiling phagocytosis is the predominant mechanism for uptake of the colonic spirochetosis bacterium Serpulina pilosicoli by human monocytes.

Serpulina pilosicoli is a newly identified pathogenic spirochete that establishes persistent colonic infections in human beings and animals. Macrophages are one of the key defenses against invasion of mucosal surfaces by bacterial pathogens. Macrophages engulf many bacteria by conventional phagocytosis; however recent studies indicate coiling phagocytosis as a new and important mechanism for internalization of Legionella pneumophila and spirochetes of the genus Borrelia, Leptospira, and Treponema. In this study, THP-1 human monocytic cells were incubated with the human S. pilosicoli strain SP16 and the contribution of coiling and conventional phagocytosis to the total number of phagocytic events were determined by sequential ultrastructural examination between 5 and 45 minutes. The frequency of phagocytosis increased over time from 5.1% after 5 minutes up to 21.9% after 45 minutes with greater than 70% of the events involving coiling phagocytosis. The data indicate that coiling phagocytosis may be a universal mechanism for uptake of pathogenic spirochetes.

Brachyspira↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Leptospira interrogans serovar Pomona: detection of antigenic differences among 3 regional isolates from cattle and a reference strain].

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by Leptospira interrogans. This disease is diagnosed by quantification of specific immunoglobulins in serum by the microagglutination test (MAT). The aims of this research were: a) to compare the protein profiles of 3 clinical isolates of bovine leptospirosis with the reference strain used for the MAT, and b) to identify the immunodomain antigens of the regional isolates through PAGE and immunoblotting techniques of bovine sera from infected, vaccinated and MAT-negative animals. Coomassie-blue stained gels revealed extensive protein similarities between pathogenic and reference strain. Most infected (8/10) and vaccinated animal sera (4/7) showed by immunoblotting a similar reactivity against the proteins from pathogenic leptospires, with a strong band of 25-30 kDa which was not detected in the reference strain. The lack of correlation between MAT and immunoblotting techniques for infected animals could be due either to the infection stage at which the diagnosis was made or to the immunoglobulin isotype involved in the response. Results obtained would confirm the antigenic differences between the 3 isolates and the reference strain.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1996

Leptospirosis - An Emerging Pathogen in Travel Medicine: A Review of its Clinical Manifestations and Management.

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by a spirochete, Leptospira interrogans. The disease has a wide range of clinical manifestations, ranging from a mild febrile illness to classic Weil's disease, which presents with jaundice, myalgia, acute renal failure, and tissue hemorrhage. Transmission usually occurs from contact with infected water surfaces. Recently, recreational activities such as hiking, swimming in lakes, biking through infected water, and hunting have been associated with the acquisition of this disease. This review describes the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostic methods, management, and prevention of this disease.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1987

Cross-reactivity in serological tests for Lyme disease and other spirochetal infections.

Serum specimens from 163 persons with Lyme disease, tick-borne or louse-borne relapsing fever, yaws, syphilis, leptospirosis, or Rocky Mountain spotted fever were analyzed to assess the specificity of indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) tests, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and microscopic agglutination (MA) procedures. Strong cross-reactivity occurred when sera from individuals with Lyme disease, tick-borne relapsing fever, and louse-borne relapsing fever were tested against heterologous Borrelia antigens. Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi bound to Treponema pallidum in immunofluorescence tests for syphilis. Sera from subjects with syphilis cross-reacted in IFA tests and the ELISA for Lyme disease. Immunoglobulin antibodies to Borrelia or Treponema spirochetes, however, did not react with serovars of Leptospira interrogans in MA or IFA tests, and the prevalence of false-positive results in the reciprocal analyses was negligible.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1992

Evaluation of an immunoenzymatic test (ELISA) for the diagnosis of leptospirosis in Italy.

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was assessed to detect in humans IgM and IgG against the main serogroups/serovars of Leptospira present in Italy. Sonicated antigens from strain Wijnberg, serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae and Riccio 2, serogroup Australis, were used in ELISA and the results were compared to microagglutination test (MAT). IgM were confirmed to be the predominant class of antibodies; the total sensitivity obtained by Wijnberg/ELISA with the sera of patients infected by different serogroups was 81.5% in relation to MAT, better sensitivity was achieved by the use of Riccio 2/ELISA; no reaction occurred with the control sera. Cross-reactivity was noted with some sera of patients with Lyme disease (IgM) and with few sera of patients with autoimmune disease (IgM and IgG). To improve the sensitivity of the ELISA both antigens Wijnberg and Riccio 2 must be employed in the immunoenzymatic assay, since serogroup Australis must be considered as a new emerging serogroup causing human leptospirosis in our country.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1986

The development of a potency test for Leptospira hardjo vaccines: a comparison of protection in calves and serology in guinea-pigs.

The protective properties of two commercial Leptospira hardjo vaccines in calves were compared with the serological responses induced in guinea-pigs with a view to establishing a potency test based on serology. Groups of calves were given graded doses of the two vaccines and after eight weeks were challenged with virulent L. hardjo. Infection was monitored by microscopy and culture of urine and, eight weeks after challenge, by culture of the kidneys post mortem. Groups of guinea-pigs also were tested by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). A clear dose response was observed and the response was related to the degree of protection achieved in the calves. The MAT titre in guinea-pigs indicative of an effective vaccine was calculated for the minimum dose of each vaccine that gave full protection in calves. A close correlation was observed. Two further batches of each vaccine were tested in guinea-pigs on two occasions with reproducible results. A potency test based on the MAT response of guinea-pigs is proposed.

Agglutination Tests↗
PubMed1997

Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae seropositivity and the reproductive performance of sows.

The reproductive performance of 28 sows seropositive to Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae was compared with that of 87 Leptospira sp. seronegative dams belonging to the same herd. Sows were sampled during 1988 to 1993. During this period the herd was not submitted to any kind of intervention (antibiotic therapy, immunoprophylaxis or rodent control). Relative risks (RR) of return to heat, mummified fetuses, stillbirth, and weak newborn piglets for infected sows were assessed and the differences in means of total piglets born per litter, piglets born alive, piglets effectively housed, weaned piglets, stillbirths, mummified fetuses, weak newborn piglets, weight at birth of the piglets effectively housed, weight at 21 days of life and weight at weaning were evaluated. Seropositive dams had a greater risk of having weak newborn piglets (RR = 1.67, 1.02 < or = CI 95% < or = 2.72) and also of having more weak newborn piglets per litter (P = 0.01). Other variables examined were not different (P > 0.05).

Aging↗
PubMed1978

Hazards of disease transfer from marine mammals to land mammals: review and recent findings.

In a 5-year study (1972-1977) of microbial agents isolated from both clinically normal and diseased marine mammals, it was shown that certain disease agents are widespread in a diversity of ocean populations and that some are also transmissible to a number of terrestrial mammal species. Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona has been isolated repeatedly from 2 species of pinnipeds (Zalophus californianus califonianus and Callorhinus ursinus). Some of the more important bacterial pathogens for land mammals that were isolated from wild marine mammals are Pseudomonas mallei, Clostridium chauvoei, C novyi, Neisseria mucosa var heidelbergensis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella spp, and Pasteurella multocida. Numerous serotypes of viruses classified as caliciviruses were isolated from a variety of marine mammals. Some of these are known to infect several land mammal species including swine horses, and primates. For this reason., precautions should be taken to ensure that disease agents shed by captive marine mammals are not transmitted to susceptible terrestrial mammals, including animal handlers and other human beings.

Animals↗