The prevalence of antibodies to members of Leptospira interrogans in cattle

A total of 1,355 random samples taken from bovine serums submitted for brucellosis testing in Victoria were submitted to the microscopic agglutination test for the presence of antibody to 12 serovars of Leptospira interrogans. The most common reaction obtained was to serovar hardjo, although the percentage of reactors varied from 24.8% in the metropolitan area to 56.3% in north-eastern Victoria (mean 40.6%). A total of 86.3% of farms from which 3 or more samples were taken had at least one reactor to serovar hardjo. The prevalence of antibody to other serovars was tarassovi (7.8% of reactors), ballum (3.7%), pomona (2.4%), autumnalis (1.8%) and bataviae (1.2%). Reactions to other serovars were observed in serums of less than 1% of cattle tested; serums from 50.8% of cattle did not react to any antigen.