Leptospirosis en animales beneficiados en Chimbote, Peru

Abstract

Serologic tests and kidney cultures were carried out to investigate leptospirosis in 741 animals slaughtered in the abbatoir of Chimbote, department of Ancash, Perú

Agglutination-lysis tests were positive in 22.8 per cent of cattle sera; 6.2 per cent of swine sera, and 3.8 per cent of sheep sera. Cattle sera reacted mainly with serotypes of hebdomadis serogroup and with pomona; swine sera with autumnalis, and sheep sera with pomona. All goat sera were negative

Three Leptospira strains were isolated, two of them from cattle of Ancash, that were identified as pomona, and the other one, from a pig from Chimbote, that was identified as canicola

The results suggest that: a) the cattle from the departments of Ancash, Cajamarca, and La Libertad are reservoirs of relative importance and carriers of pomona and some serotype of hebdomadis serogroup, which has not been isolated as yet; b) pigs from Chimbote, because of their rate of infection, must be excluded as important reservoirs of Leptospira in that city; c) there are serological indications of infection with pomona of sheep from Cajamarca and Ancash; and d) it is desirable to continue the leptospiral investigation in goats, because the negative results must not be considered as definitive(AU)