Incidence of leptospiral antibodies in different game species over a 10-year period (1996–2005) in Croatia

Abstract

During the 10-year survey (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005), a total of 868 blood samples from different game species in Croatia were analyzed for the presence of leptospiral antibodies. The specific antibodies (AB) were detected in 242 samples (27.88%). According to the species in red deer (Cervus elaphus), the antibodies against six different leptospiral serovars were found in 43 of 226 analyzed sera (19.02%). The most frequent antigen serovars in the deer population were Pomona and Ballum (with the same frequency of 23.6%), whereas the highest titer was recorded for serovar Sejroe (1:800). In the analyzed roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) serum samples, a low level of leptospiral antibodies (6.07%) was determined, with just two AB for antigen serovars-Australis and Sejroe. In wild boar (Sus scrofa), leptospiral antibodies were detected in 151 of 431 samples analyzed (35.03%), with AB for nine antigen serovars. The serovars most frequently found were Australis (48.70%) and Pomona (22.70%), and these serovars also recorded the highest titer (1:3,200). Among brown bear (Ursus arctos) samples, leptospiral antibodies were detected in 25.00% of the samples, with four AB for antigen serovars, of which the most frequent was Icterohaemorrhagiae (>40%). This serovar had the highest recorded titer (1:400). From 112 analyzed red fox (Vulpes vulpes) samples, leptospiral antibodies were found in 35 samples (31.25%). The determined antibodies were specific for four antigen serovars, of which the most frequent (46.2%) and with highest titer (1:1600) was serovar Australis. No antibodies (28/0) were recorded in mouflon (Ovis musimon). The most important game species from an epizootiological point of view in the studied area were certainly wild boar and red foxes. With strong serological reactions, these two species could be emphasized as important hosts for Leptospira interrogans sv. Australis in Croatia, but for their declaration as 'maintaining hosts,' isolation of sv. Australis is needed. According to aerial distribution, the highest number of positive samples from different game species was recorded in the central and eastern parts of Croatia, known as the 'historical natural foci' of leptospirosis-the regions of Posavina, Podravina, Slavonija, and Baranja. In contrast, the areas of Kordun and Gorski Kotar are declared as leptospira low-risk regions for the game species studied.

Leptospiral antibodies in Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus), fallow deer (Dama dama) and European wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Asturias, Northern Spain

“…infections in different regions may reflect true variations or may result from differences in study designs, including the method of sampling, serovars included or MAT cut-off values. Pomona, one of the most prevalent leptospiral serovars in fallow deer, European wild boar and Iberian red deer in our study, has been reported in 12% of wild boar (1:400 cut-off) in South-Central Spain (Vicente et al, 2002) and was one of the most prevalent serovars in red deer and wild boar in Croatia (Slavica et al, 2008), but was not detected in wild boar from Tuscany (Italy) (Ebani et al, 2003). Lavín et al (1998) reported an overall Leptospira spp.…”

First report of Leptospira infections in red deer, roe deer, and fallow deer in Poland

“…A comparable level of exposure was demonstrated in Croatia (6.0%) (20) and Italy (6.3%) (1). In Spain, Lavín et al (15) reported an overall Leptospira sp.…”

Prevalence of leptospiral antibodies in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) population of Croatia

“…The genus Leptospira is divided into 20 species based on DNA hybridization studies (Bharti et al, 2003) and these 20 species are classified into more than 280 serovars, according to their antigenic relatedness (Cerqueira and Picardeau, 2009). Worldwide distribution of different Leptospira serovars has been well documented over the last 50 years, while recently the importance of identifiying prevalent serovars at the regional level has been stressed by numerous authors (Treml et al, 2002;Richardson and Gauthier, 2003;Slavica et al, 2008;Espi et al, 2010).…”