Serological response of cattle to Chlamydophila abortus in Slovakia in 1996-2000

In the Slovak Republic, in 1966-2000, 37,275 blood sera of cattle were investigated for the presence of antibodies against Chlamydophila abortus using the method of complement fixation. The antibody occurrence had following tendency: in 1996--3.72%; 1997--10.02%; 1998--9.15%; 1999--15.99%; 2000--9.51% of the tested sera contained the antibodies. In most cases, antibodies in low titres, 1:32-1:64, were detected. Positive serological reactions at such serum dilutions are not indicative of the clinical disease of cattle; they reflect an immune response of the host organism following contact with the Chlamydophila abortus antigen. The chlamydial antibody titres of 1:256, which were confirmed in 1998-1999, indicate the chlamydial infections.