Occurrence of leptospiral infections in swine population in Poland evaluated by ELISA and microscopic agglutination test

Swine are one of significant reservoirs and sources of Leptospira infections for man. Serological screenings help to effectively control the epidemiological situation in swine herds and to prevent transmission of Leptospira from animals to man. The purpose of this study was to investigate, by the use of serological methods, the prevalence of infections caused by selected Leptospira serogroups in swine population in Poland. A total of 7112 swine serum samples were examined. The samples were collected from January to October 2008 and came from 280 counties situated in all 16 provinces of Poland. All sera were examined preliminary by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using heat-stable antigenic preparation. The samples positive or doubtful in ELISA were investigated by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with use of serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, Canicola, Sejroe, Tarassovi and Of the collected sera examined by ELISA 73 (1.02%) samples were positive, 85 (1.20%)--doubtful and 6954--negative. Among ELISA-positive and doubtful sera 64 samples (coming from 14 provinces) were recognized in MAT as positive. Among MAT positive samples 42.19% of sera demonstrated titres with serovar Pomona, 32.81%--with Sejroe, 14.06%--with Icterohaemorrhagiae, 6.25%--with Tarassovi, 3.13%--with Grippotyphosa and 1.56% with Canicola.