African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5233

Full Length Research Paper

Frequency of canine leptospirosis in dog shelters in Veracruz, Mexico

Anabel Cruz-Romero1, Dora Romero-Salas1*, Concepción Ahuja Aguirre1, Mariel Aguilar-Domínguez2 and Christian Bautista-Piña3
1Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Veracruzana. 2C.E. La Posta, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias. 3Universidad Cristóbal Colón.
Email: [email protected]

  •  Accepted: 29 March 2013
  •  Published: 09 April 2013

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the frequency of canine leptospirosis in 92 dogs from two shelters in the city of Veracruz, Mexico. The microaglutination test (MAT) was used for detecting antibodies against 12 serovars of Leptospira interrogans in dog serumOf the 92 dogs, eight were positive, resulting in an overall frequency of leptospirosis of 8.6% (CI95% 3.8 to 16.41). With reference to shelter, frequency was 8.3% (4/48; CI95% 2.3 to 19.9) in shelter 1 and 9.0% (4/44; CI95% 2.5 to 21.6) in shelter 2. The most frequent serovar of L. interrogans was Canicola. Frequency by sex of the dogs was 8.8% (4/45; CI95% 2.4 to 21.2) for females and 8.5% (4/47; CI95% 2.3 to 20.3) for males. In conclusion, leptospirosis is present in dogs housed in shelters in the city of Veracruz, Mexico.

 

Key words: Leptospirosis, dog, epidemiology, serovar.