title: Bovine leptospirosis: Prevalence, associated risk factors for infection and their cause-effect relation.
abstract: Leptospirosis is a cosmopolitan infectious disease that causes severe reproductive disorders in cattle, especially those related to abortion. This disease has rodents as main reservoirs; however, cattle are responsible for maintenance of the disease. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with infection and cause-effect relation of leptospirosis in dairy herds from Southern of Brazil. Serum samples of 1242 cows were collected from herds classified as of medium and high density, and tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). These farms were located in the West part of Santa Catarina State (Brazil). A total of 80 cows (6.44%) were considered positives for the infection with titration of 1:100. Using a multivariate analysis, we identified two factors associated to bovine leptospirosis: dog access to pastures (p < 0.001) and feed exposure to rodents (p = 0.05). Cause-effect analysis demonstrated that the occurrence of reproductive disorders was significantly (p = 0.01) linked to leptospirosis. Thus, we conclude that leptospirosis is prevalent in dairy cattle in the west part of Santa Catarina state, as well as the access of dogs to pastures and contact of rodents with feed increase the chance of cattle infection by Leptospira spp.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Chapecó, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil; Department of Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Chapecó, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil; UNIEDU - FUMDES scholarship, Santa Catarina State (SC), Brazil.
authors.forename: Juscivete F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Fávero
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Bacteriology, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Hugo L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: de Araújo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Veterinary Bacteriology, Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niterói, Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Brazil.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lilenbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota (UMN), Saint Paul, Minnesota (MN), USA.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade do Oeste de Santa Catarina (UNOESC), Xanxerê, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil.
authors.forename: Alexandre A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tonin
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Matheus D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Baldissera
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Chapecó, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil; Department of Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Chapecó, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil.
authors.forename: Lenita M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Chapecó, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil; Department of Animal Science, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC), Chapecó, Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil. Electronic address: dasilva.aleksandro@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Aleksandro S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Da Silva
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D007919:Leptospira / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial
keywords: Dairy cattle; Infectious disease; Leptospira; Reproductive disorders