Epidemiologic situation of leptospirosis in dogs in the Southern states of Germany.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of different Leptospira serovars in dogs with leptospirosis in Southern Germany. Furthermore, breed, gender and age predisposition were evaluated. Data of 337 dogs that were presented at the Clinic of Small Animal Medicine of the Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Germany, and in which Leptospira antibodies against eight different serovars had been determined using a microscopic agglutination test from 1990 to 2004, were evaluated retrospectively. It was shown that 48% (162/337) of the dogs had antibodies against at least one of the tested serovars. Besides antibodies against the Leptospira interrogans serovars copenhageni (114) and canicola (62) that are included in the vaccine, antibodies against the serovars grippotyphosa (54), bratislava (30), saxkoebing (16), and sejroe (13) were present. Only a few dogs displayed antibodies against serovars pomona (6) and hardjo (4). There were 42 dogs with confirmed diagnosis of leptospirosis. In these dogs, the serovar grippotyphosa (13/42; 31%) was the most frequently identified as the aetiologic agent, followed by the serovars saxkoebing (10/42; 24%), copenhageni (7/42; 17%), canicola (5/42; 12%) and bratislava (3/42; 7%). In four dogs, the aetiologic agent could not be determined. Bernese Mountain dogs were statistically significantly more often affected by leptospirosis. In addition, this breed more commonly had antibodies against leptospirosis. These results suggest that many dogs have antibodies against serovars copenhageni and canicola, but leptospirosis is mostly caused by the serovars grippotyphosa and saxkoebing, which are not contained in the vaccination. Therefore, new vaccines containing serovars grippotyphosa and saxkoebing should be produced.