Vet World Vol.17 May-2024 Article - 5
Research Article
Veterinary World, 17(5): 973-980
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.973-980
Infection and re-infection of Leptospira spp. in stray dogs and cats from Bogota, Colombia
Background and Aim: Leptospirosis is a re-emerging zoonosis that is under-reported in tropical countries, and canines can be a potential reservoir of the disease. The objective of this study was to diagnose Leptospira spp. that is actively infected and re-infected in stray dogs and cats from Bogota, D.C., Colombia.
Materials and Methods: A sample of 200 animals, including dogs and cats from the animal protection programs of Bogota, Colombia, were used in this study. Blood was collected from these animals for serum and DNA analysis. Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using the 16s rRNA primer set, and higher-quality amplification products were sequenced by Sanger. For serodiagnosis, a group of PCR-positive samples was tested using the microagglutination test (MAT).
Results: The overall PCR positivity of stray dogs and cats was 56%, 52.9%, and 65.3% in dogs and cats, respectively. The MAT seropositivity was 77.3%, and only dogs showed titers higher than 1:400. Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, Hardjo Prajitno, and Canicola and Hardjo prajitno were the serogroups associated with dogs and cats, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strains belonging to Leptospira interrogans serovars related to isolated samples of American, European, and Asian bats (Myotis myotis), dogs, and bovines of American origin.
Conclusion: These results showed that stray dogs and cats were previously exposed to different serovars of Leptospira spp. and re-infected with other serovars that actively participated in the transmission cycle. These findings highlight the importance of actively diagnosing infectious animals to design effective intervention strategies.
Keywords: cat, dog, Leptospira spp., microagglutination test, phylogenetic analysis, polymerase chain reaction.
How to cite this article: Puentes MMM, Camargo KDJ, Roberto YAM, Guzman-Barragan BL, Tafur-Gomez GA, and Clavijo NFS (2024) Infection and re-infection of Leptospira spp. in stray dogs and cats from Bogota, Colombia, Veterinary World, 17(5):973-980.
Received: 2023-12-18 Accepted: 2024-04-11 Published online: 2024-05-04
Corresponding author: E-mail:
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.973-980
Copyright: Puentes, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
