The serological and cultural prevalence of leptospirosis in a sample of feral goats

Authors: Blackmore DK, Schollum LM
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 29, Issue 6, pp 104-106, Jun 1981
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Goat, Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Biosecurity, Clinical pathology, Diagnostic procedures, Disease surveillance, Feral animal, Zoonosis, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Public health
Article class: Scientific Article

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Abstract: Ninety-eight serum samples and 101 kidneys were examined from feral goats submitted for slaughter from Raglan county. It was found that 13.3% of the sera had agglutinating antibodies to serovars hardjo and balcanica. One hardjo and three balcanica isolates were made from the kidneys of the same group of goats. No Hebdomadis group titres were demonstrated from a further 18 blood samples of feral goats from the Taranaki and Taupo regions. Four of the total 116 sera examined had titres of between 1:24 to 1:196 to ballum. It is inferred from these results that the goat is not a natural maintenance host for leptospires in New Zealand. It is suggested that the balcanica infections were related to close association with possums. The hardjo infections, and the evidence of previous ballum infection are believed to have resulted from associations with cattle and wild rodents respectively.

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