[Anti-Leptospira antibodies in slaughterhouse workers in Ankara]

Leptospirosis is one of the zoonotic infections which is widely seen especially in tropical regions, and the primary transmission is by direct contact of water, contaminated by the secretions of animals. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of leptospirosis in the slaughterhouse workers, who have very close contact with the animals, as a risk factor. The serum samples collected from 102 personnel (3 female, 99 male, age range: 19-66 years) who work in the different slaughterhouses in Ankara province, have been screened by means of anti-leptospira antibodies with a reference method, microscopic agglutination test (MAT). In this method, a total of 40 strains were used as antigens, including L. interrogans serotype gripptyphosa Moskva V, L. icterohaemorrhagiae Wijnberg, L. sejroe Hardjoprajitno, L. pomona Pomona, L. canicola Canicola, L. australis Jez-Bratislava and L. biflexa serotype semeranga patoc I. The evaluation was made by dark field microscopy, and the presence of agglutination in > or = 1/100 titers, were accepted as positive. As a result, in only 2 (1.96%) of the sera, anti-leptospira antibodies against L. australis Jez-Bratislava antigen were found positive, and it was detected that, these subjects were the personnel who worked in the same slaughterhouse for a mean period of 15 years. In conclusion, as 100 workers were found seronegative, the seroprevalence of leptospirosis is very low in our province.