Abstract

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic infectious disease prevalent in the tropics caused by the pathogenic spirochaetes of the genus Leptospira. Dogs act as reservoir host for Leptospira species and can transmit the infection to humans especially dog owners. A study was conducted in Thrissur, Ernakulam and Palakkad districts of Kerala to find out the occurrence of leptospirosis among suspected and healthy dogs. The results of the study revealed that 4.82 per cent of the samples were found positive based on Dark Field Microscopy. District- wise occurrence of Leptospirosis by Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) was found to be 2.22 per cent, 4.61 per cent and 18.88 per cent in Ernakulam, Palakkad and Thrissur districts respectively. The common serovars identified were Australis (18.89 per cent), Grippotyphosa (17.39 per cent), Icterohaemorrhagiae (14.49 per cent) and Autumnalis (14.49 per cent).

Keywords : Leptospirosis, Serovars, Microscopic Agglutination Test, Dark Field Microscopy