Lepto

• Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira.
• There are numerous pathogenic serovars of Leptospira affecting different animals and the most common serovars which affects cattle include: Hardjo, Guaricura, Pomona, Grippotyphosa, and Icterohemorrhagiae.
• Leptospirosis can be transmitted to cattle through maintenance and incidental hosts.
• Maintenance hosts carry the bacteria and serve as a constant source of infection to cattle as well as to other species.
• They are silent-carriers of the bacteria which typically show no clinical signs and serve as reservoir of infection.
• Additionally, they can be carriers of bacteria for months or years persisting in the kidneys and sometimes the genital tract.
• Cattle, deer, and sheep are the maintenance hosts of serovar Hardjo.
• Leptospirosis can be diagnosed through blood tests.
• Leptospirosis can affect various organs in the body, including the kidneys, liver, and eyes.
• Leptospira bacteria are spread through the urine of infected animals.
• Symptoms of Leptospirosis can include fever, muscle pain, and headache.
• Leptospirosis is a disease caused by Leptospira bacteria.
• Leptospirosis can be prevented through vaccination.
• Only cattle can transmit the bacteria, infecting each other and other animals.
• Incidental hosts do not carry the bacteria and are infected only for a short period of time.
• The serovars which affect incidental hosts are usually maintained by other species and the transmission usually occurs when incidental hosts are exposed to maintenance hosts.
• Once this transmission is removed, the disease is not perpetuated.
• Humans and goats are examples of incidental hosts of serovar Hardjo.
• Cattle are incidental hosts of serovars Pomona, Icterohemorrhagiae, and Grippotyphosa.
• Transmission of the bacteria occurs either directly through infected animals and carrier animals or indirectly through urine, reproductive secretions, milk from infected animals, contaminated water as well as other species.
• The infection starts once leptospires enter the body of cattle either through mucous membranes of the nose, eyes, mouth, reproductive tract or through breaks in the skin.
• Leptospires can also be isolated from the organs of animals that died suddenly during the acute stage of the disease in necropsy.
• Controlling leptospirosis remains challenging and often aggravating due to its dynamic and complex epidemiology.
• Oxytetracycline, tulathromycin, and ceftiofur are also reportedly effective.
• Samples must be present at the laboratory within three hours, refrigerated.
• Streptomycin (25 mg/kg, IM, single dose) is typically used and usually eliminates the renal carrier status.
• Biosecurity and management changes should be maintained.
• Reproductive issues, such as abortions are reportedly prevented by an integrated program of antimicrobials.
• Vaccination serves as the cheapest control method and represents an essential measure for the control of leptospirosis, where the most dependable approach is through the use of inactivated vaccines.
• Serological tests are useful for screening herds with a history of abortions or reproductive problems.
• Animals suspected of being carriers or clinically infected can also have urine samples cultured.
• Serology alone often fails to identify infected animals because seronegative shedders are common in infected cattle herds.
• A leptospirosis vaccination is given every six months, ideally just before the breeding season, which starts in the early spring when contamination of the environment is at its peak.
• Bacterial isolation and culture of leptospires can be performed from blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and milk in acute cases.
• A PCR assay is required for a definitive disease diagnosis.
• The most common portal of entry in cattle is through penetration of damaged skin of legs and feet in streams of water, ponds, and marshy areas infected with urine of affected animals.
• It is highly linked to incidental strains.
• Abortions occurring at any point during a pregnancy and the birth of weak offspring are the key characteristics of the disease.
• Since serovars Hardjo and Guaricura may colonize and survive in the genital tracts of infected cows, the chronic reproductive type of infection is more closely associated with these strains.
• A combination of history and clinical signs may indicate leptospirosis.