title: Seroprevalence of Leptospira spp. in clinically healthy horses in Switzerland.
abstract: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the leptospiral seroprevalence in clinically healthy horses in Switzerland. A representative sample of 615 horse sera was examined by microscopic agglutination test for the presence of antibodies against 15 Leptospira spp. serovars. In total, 58.5 % (n = 360) of the horses were positive for one or more of the antigens analysed, with 20.3 % of them showing titres >= 400. The most prevalent serovar was Pyrogenes (22.6 %), followed by serovars Canicola (22.1 %) and Australis (19.2 %). Older horses, mares, ponies and animals spending increased time on pasture exhibited significantly higher prevalence rates (p < 0.05). Moreover, the prevalence was higher in summer and autumn (p = 0.003). The high seroprevalence in healthy horses indicates that they are often exposed to or infected with Leptospira spp. without developing signs of disease. Therefore, other laboratory and clinical data should always be taken into consideration when interpreting serological test results for Leptospira spp.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Zoonoses, Bacterial Animal Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance (ZOBA), Institute of Veterinary Bacteriology, University of Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Blatti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Overesch
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hüssy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006734:Horse Diseases; D006736:Horses; D007919:Leptospira; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000662:veterinary; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013557:Switzerland
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial