Dual infections of red deer (Cervus elaphus) by Leptospira interrogans serovars copenhageni and hardjo

On a property in the Nelson District, blood and urine samples were taken from red deer (Cervus elaphus) from which low (<1:100) antibody titres to serovar copenhageni and suspected leptospiral abortions had previously been reported. A total of 27 hinds were sampled. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) titres in sera ranging from 1:32 to 1:128 were found in six animals. Thirteen leptospiral isolations were made from nine of the 27 urine samples. Four of these were typed as copenhageni and nine as hardjo. Two cultures were prepared from each urine sample and hardjo and copenhageni were both isolated from single urine samples from two animals. None of the 27 deer had serum MAT titres at 1:32 or above to copenhageni.