“…Specific antibodies were detected by the reference method [15] using the representative serovars from different serogroups known to be prevalent in São Paulo, Brazil: [3,16] Australis strain Ballico, Autumnalis strain Akiyami, Bataviae strain Van Tienen, Butembo strain Butembo, Canicola strain Hond Utrecht IV, Castellonis strain Castellon 3, Celledoni strain Celledoni, Copenhageni strain M20, Cynopteri strain 3522C, Djasiman strain Djasiman, Grippotyphosa strain Moska V, Hebdomadis strain Hebdomadis, Icterohaemorrhagiae strain Icterohaemorrhagiae, Javanica strain Veldrat Batavia 46, Panama strain CZ214 K, Pomona strain Pomona, Pyrogenes strain Salinem, Shermani strain 1342 K, Tarassovi strain Perepelitsin and Wolfii strain 3705. All the strains were maintained in Elinghausen McCullough Johnson Harris (EMJH) liquid medium (Difco, Sparks, MD, USA) at 30 • C. Titers equal to or higher than 1:100 were considered as positive.…”