Abstract
Leptospirosis is a globally occurring zoonosis. The disease is often asymptomatic in sheep, but it is a major cause of reproductive losses. In Rio Grande do Sul state, commercial sheep herds total over 2,600,000 animals. In this light, our study aims to identify seroprevalence of anti- Leptospira antibodies in sheep in a slaughterhouse with state inspection level. Blood samples were taken at the time of bleeding at the slaughter line. Eighty-one serum samples were submitted to the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT), using a panel of 12 serovars. A total of 23 (28.39%) were reagents for at least one serovar. According to the most prevalent serovars (Autumnalis, Hardjo and Bratislava), grazing alongside cattle and the presence of rodents on the farm, may be influencing the transmission of the agent to the sheep. Although the prevalence was similar to the national average (26%), it is lower than that most recently described for the region (34.26%), which may indicate advances in technification and the elaboration of prevention policies
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