ANTI-LEPTOSPIRASPP. ANTIBODIES IN OVINES FROM MONTE NEGRO MUNICIPALITY, RONDONIA STATE, BRAZILABSTRACT
The present study determined the prevalence of anti-Leptospira spp.antibodies in 141 ovines from 15 farms of the Monte Negro Municipality, Rondonia State, Brazil, by the microscopic agglutination test. Twelve (80.0%) farms presented at least 1 reactive animal. Antibodies titers of ? 100 were detected in 47 (33.3%) animals, the most frequent serovars being Patoc (29.7%), Autumnalis (14.8%), Pyrogenes (10.6%), Australis (4.2%), Bratislava (4.2%), Hardjo (4.2%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (4.2%), Castellonis (2.1%) and Hebdomadis (2.1%). In 11 (23.4%) sera it was not possible to determine the most frequent serovar involved. The results raise a warning as to the possibility of infection in the human being by Leptospira in light of the regional characteristics of the Amazon agricultural frontier.
KEY WORDS Ovine; leptospira; prevalence; serovar; Amazon; Brazil