Seroprevalence of leptospirosis among stray dogs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Zinka Maksimović; Senka Babić; Amir Zahirović; Maid Rifatbegović

doi:10.1016/j.cimid.2024.102171

Seroprevalence of leptospirosis among stray dogs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2024 Apr 6:109:102171. doi: 10.1016/j.cimid.2024.102171. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zinka Maksimović¹, Senka Babić², Amir Zahirović³, Maid Rifatbegović¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pathobiology and Epidemiology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 90, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
² Department of Pathobiology and Epidemiology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 90, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Electronic address: senka.babic@vfs.unsa.ba.
³ Department of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Faculty, University of Sarajevo, Zmaja od Bosne 90, Sarajevo 71000, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

PMID: 38598876
DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2024.102171

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a (re) emerging zoonosis that occurs worldwide. This study aimed to assess seroprevalence of leptospirosis and to identify the most common reactive serovars and risk factors for seropositivity in apparently healthy stray dogs of unknown vaccination status in the Sarajevo region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Positive microscopic agglutination test titres (≥ 1:25) were detected in 3.87% (156/4028) of samples and most of the sera reacted against one serovar (85.9%). Dogs were most commonly reactive to Canicola (40.4%) and Hardjo (33.3%), followed by Pomona (15.4%) Tarassovi (14.7%), Icterohaemorrhagiae (8.3%), Grippotyphosa (5.8%), Bratislava (1.3%) and Saxkoebing (0.6%). Dogs older than one year had higher odds of seropositivity compared to younger dogs. The seropositivity was higher in spring and autumn than in summer. These results advocate for the need of a control strategy for this zoonosis in the country, which should include sero-surveillance, monitoring, and the inclusion of additional serovars in the testing.

Keywords: Leptospira; Risk factors; Seropositivity; Stray dogs; The microscopic agglutination test.