Annual variations in Leptospira seroprevalence among sows in southern Vietnam

A serological survey was conducted among sows in the Mekong delta in southern Vietnam in 1999 to investigate variations in leptospiral seroprevalence over a one-year period. In this region, leptospirosis is endemic and a high leptospiral seroprevalence has been shown in the pig population. In this study, the serology of six Leptospira serovars was analysed by the microscopic agglutination test for 429 sows at five large-scale state farms sampled during the dry period, the rainy period and the early dry period. The serovars included were L. interrogans serovar (sv) autumnalis strain Akiyama A, L. interrogans sv bratislava strain Jez, L. interrogans sv icterohaemorrhagiae strain Kantorowicz, L. interrogans sv pomona strain Pomona, L. borgpetersenii sv tarassovi strain Perepelitsin, and L. kirschneri sv grippotyphosa strain Duyster. Variations in seroprevalence over the year were found for sv bratislava and sv icterohaemorrhagiae: the seroprevalence was higher during the dry period compared with the rainy period (p = 0.07 and p = 0.005, respectively) and the early dry period (p = 0.00006 and p = 0.0006, respectively). It is concluded that in regions where water is constantly abundant and where animals are exposed to the outdoor environment all year round there are highly significant variations in leptospiral seroprevalence over the year.