Preliminary study on the status of feline leptospirosis in Kerala

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a disease of zoonotic importance in worldwide scenario and is caused by the infection of Leptospira species. The present study was undertaken to estimate the seropositivity of leptospirosis in cats of Kerala. A total of 200 serum samples were collected from apparently healthy cats from different parts of Kerala such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Kannur. Among these samples, 12 samples (6 %) were found to be positive with the MAT titre above 1:20. The serovar identified in this study was serovar Djasiman, Autumnalis, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Australis, Grippotyphosa, and Hardjo. The highest prevalence in cat was for serovar Djasiman (50%) followed by serovar Autumnalis (25%). The majority of cats were crossbreds, males and in age groups between one and two years (58.33%). The majority of animals had both indoor with outdoor access, the presence of rodents and other animals in the household or surroundings.

Keywords

• cat
• leptospirosis
• seroprevalence
• epidemiological study