Occurrence of anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies in Rhipidomys spp. from a forest fragment of the Brazilian Cerrado

• Published in: Tropical animal health and production Vol. 49; no. 3; pp. 555 - 559
• Main Authors: Gomes, D. O., Ramos, G. B., Alves, V. B. A., Ciuffa, A. Z., Cuccato, L. P., dos Reis, T. F. M., Lima, A. M. C., Gonçalves, M. C., Tolesano, G. V., Rodrigues, V. S., Szabó, M. P. J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.03.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agglutination Tests - veterinary; Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Arvicolinae; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Brazil - epidemiology; Forests; Leptospira; Leptospira - immunology; Leptospirosis - epidemiology; Leptospirosis - veterinary; Life Sciences; Prevalence; Regular Articles; Risk Factors; Rodent Diseases - blood; Rodent Diseases - epidemiology; Rodent Diseases - microbiology; Rodents; Tropical Climate; Veterinary Medicine/Veterinary Science; Zoology; Zoonoses - epidemiology; Leptospirosis; Serology; Zoonosis; Rodents
• ISSN: 0049-4747; 1573-7438
• DOI: 10.1007/s11250-017-1227-6

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease of world importance, and its transmission depends on the interaction between humans and animals. Given the necessity to investigate potential hosts of Leptospira spp., this study verified the prevalence of different serovars in the species of Rhipidomys spp., a widespread sigmodont rodent in Brazil. The studied population originates from a semi-evergreen forest located in the county of Uberlândia, in the state of Minas Gerais. The microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was performed with 14 serovars. Thirteen out of the 43 wild rodents captured showed a positive agglutination reaction, with a greater prevalence of the serovars Pyrogenes, Copenhageni, and Canicola. This study found a prevalence of 30.3% anti- Leptospira spp. antibodies; all positive animals were reactive to more than one serovar.