The failure of genus specific serological tests to detect leptospirosis in cattle and rabbits

Abstract

Extract

In New Zealand, Leptospirosis of cattle is an important zoonosis. Human leptospirosis, one of the most common of the) notifiable diseases (Christmas et al., 1974) is almost exclusively a disease of dairy farmers. Clinical signs of bovine Leptospira infections are frequently not observed (Sullivan, 1974). Consequently, serological tests are often used to detect leptospirosis in cattle. The microscopic agglutination (MA) test is fairly serotypespecific, but it is tedious to perform and requires potentially hazardous living cultures. The complement fixation (CF) test is less serotype-specific, uses killed organisms, and may be a better indicator of recent infection (Hodges and Ris, 1974). Both tests require a variety of serotypes to identify those causing the infection.