Title : A case report of leptospirosis in cattle in sicily (South Italy)
Abstract:
Bovine leptospirosis is a zoonosis causing economic losses in livestock. This work reports an outbreak of Leptospira interrogans serogroup Sejroe serovar Hardjo in a cattle farm in province of Enna (Sicily). The farm was officially free from Brucellosis, Tuberculosis and Enzootic Bovine Leucosis. In February 2022, serum samples were collected from 2 cows, showing full-term abortion without placental retention, eight days after the first abortion signs (T0). Three additional samplings were carried out on these two animals as well as in the other animals of the farms 1 month (T1), 2 months (T2), 8 months (T3) and 12 months (T4), after the antibiotic treatment.
Blood, milk and stool samples were also collected at T2. Research of antibodies against pathogenic Leptospira species was carried out by Micro Agglutination Test (MAT). Antibodies against the main abortion agents (Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii, Neospora caninum) were searched by ELISA.
Blood, milk and drinking water samples were subjected to Real Time-PCR to detect DNA of Leptospira pathogenic species. The main abortion agents (Chlamydia abortus, Coxiella burnetii, Neospora caninum, Coronavirus, Cryptosporidium spp., Escherichia coli K99, Rotavirus) were also investigated.
No animals resulted positive at differential diagnosis except for two ones seropositive for N. canimun and C. burnetii, without showing signs of abortion. At T0 one of the two sera resulted positive to L. interrogans serogroup Sejroe serovar Hardjo at MAT. At the other sampling times, the following results were obtained at MAT: 30 positive samples/40 total samples (75%) at T1, 25/25 (100%) at T2, 22/54 (41%) at T3, 19/59 (32%) at T4.
This study describes clinical manifestations, diagnostic implications and epidemiological characteristics of an outbreak in cattle due to L. interrogans serogroup Sejroe serovar Hardjo, confirming that L. interrogans plays a role in determining leptospirosis infection in cattle reared in Sicily.
Audience Take Away:
- The study provides new insights into the epidemiology of this infection.
- The control of zoonotic pathogens such as Leptospira spp. contributes to reduce animal and human infections and to limit the related economic losses to the farms.
- The results improve occupational awareness of the exposure-related health risks to the farmers
