Sero-prevalence and risk factors of leptospirosis in commercial cattle herds of Rupandehi district, Nepal

Abstract

Nepal has an agrarian-based economy where the livestock sector contributes about 12 percent to the national GDP. Rupandehi district is one of the largest dairy pocket areas in the nation, but the disease, such as leptospirosis, posed a negative impact on their production and productivity. Despite the economic importance of cattle leptospirosis, the disease is concerned for the people’s occupational risk and food safety. Although leptospirosis is a priority zoonosis in Nepal, the effective implementation of the control program lacks both in animal and human health. A cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and identify associated risk factors of cattle leptospirosis from March 2019 to April 2020. Altogether, 206 cattle herds located in all the sixteen local levels of the district were visited. The owners were interviewed to record the cattle management system’s information and their knowledge of the zoonotic diseases. A total of 383 cattle serum samples were collected, and an indirect antibody ELISA was performed to estimate the infection status of leptospirosis in the cattle herds. All the data were analyzed by Open epi and R software for the descriptive and analytical study. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was applied to assess the potential herd level and animal level risk factors. Out of seven potential herd-level risk factors, the purchased cattle herds (OR: 7.2, 95% CI: 1.24-136.5, p=0.025) and cattle with herd size >10 (OR: 14.92, 95% CI: 2.61-283.38, p=0.025) were identified as significant risk factors for leptospirosis. At the animal level, the cattle taken for grazing in pastureland accessed by the community dog was a significant risk factor (OR: 4.16, 95% CI: 1.13-14.06, p=0.034). Surprisingly, none of the farmers had heard about leptospirosis before. The outcome of this research could be an epidemiological insight in control of priority zoonosis to protect the livestock economy and reduce their negative impact on public health.

Seroprevalence anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies and the risk factors in cattle of the tropical savannah of eastern Colombia

“…Rodents were a risk factor for four serogroups in the study. In Nepal, the relationship between rodents and the disease is reported (Gompo et al, 2020); in Brazil (Fávero et al, 2017).…”

“…In Nepal, Leptospira spp. is associated with the presence of canines (Gompo et al, 2020), an essential reservoir of the disease, especially when there are no entry controls for this species. The study suggests that the serogroup Canicola and Grippotyphosa correlated more with environmental factors.…”

Exposure to Leptospira spp. and Associated Risk Factors in the Human, Cattle and Dog Populations in Bhutan

“…In a cross-sectional study from 2019 to 2020, 206 cattle herds were visited and 383 serum samples were collected in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. These were tested against L. Hardjo with an ELISA (Prionics Lelystad B.V., The Netherlands), and 3.81% tested positive [ 32 ]. As in this study, the L. Hardjo antibody prevalence was also low in our study in Bhutan.…”