UKVDL Leptospirosis Update, January 2013

The UKVDL has confirmed 11 leptospirosis abortions so far in the 2012-2013 reproductive season.
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Graph 1

University of Kentucky

It is leptospirosis abortion season once again in Kentucky. The University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UKVDL) has confirmed 11 leptospirosis abortions so far in the 2012-2013 reproductive season. Last year, 24 were confirmed for the entire season. Graph 1 (left) shows a delay in confirmation of the first case in comparison to last year. We still can expect abortions for about three more months. Graph 2 (below left) provides a comparison of the last five years of confirmed lepto abortion cases.

Leptospirosis is a transmissible disease of animals and humans caused by infection with the spirochete Leptospira. Pathogenic leptospires were formerly classified as members of the species Leptospira interrogans; however, the genus has recently been reorganized, and pathogenic leptospires are now identified in 17 named species and four genomospecies of Leptospira. There are more than 200 distinct leptospiral serovars recognized, and these are arranged in 23 serogroups. Previous studies in Kentucky suggest that leptospirosis was the leading cause of abortion in domestic animals, mostly horses in 1989, and the third the most common bacterial cause of abortion diagnosed from 1986 through 1991

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