The First Molecular Screening of Equine Leptospiral Infection in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

2 Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Leptospira is one of the spiral-shaped Gram-negative bacteria, which includes pathogenic (Leptospira interrogans) and non-pathogenic (Leptospira biflexa) species. This bacterium is zoonotic and is scattered all over the world. It infects a wide range of hosts, including humans, domestic animals and, rodents. Investigation and identification of Leptospira in horses is often neglected or less addressed. However, this infection in horses can cause significant economic losses, such as the loss of expensive foals of rare breeds. Leptospirosis in horses is often subclinical and shows fewer clinical symptoms, especially in adults, but in acute cases, it is associated with jaundice, hemoglobinuria, renal dysfunction, lethargy, periodic ophthalmia and, abortion in mares. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate Leptospiral infection in horses. For this purpose, 100 blood samples with anticoagulants were taken from the jugular veins of clinically healthy horses in Kerman province, Iran. Then, using the DNA extraction kit, according to the manufacturer's instructions, the DNA of the samples was extracted. In the following, a PCR technique using specific primers of the 16SrRNA gene of Leptospira interrogans was used to trace Leptospira bacteria. No positive samples were found. Based on these results, it can be concluded that Leptospira bacteria likely do not exist in the horses of Kerman city, Iran.

Keywords

References

  1. Rafiei A, Amjadi O, Babamahmoodi F. Leptospirosis or Rice Field Fever: A review on the pathogenesis. Clin Excell. 2014;2(1):23–39.
  2. Baverud V, Gunnarsson A, Engvall EO, Franzén P, Egenvall A. Leptospira seroprevalence and associations between seropositivity, clinical disease and host factors in horses. Acta Vet Scand. 2009;51(1):1–10.
  3. Wangdi C, Picard J, Tan R, Condon F, Dowling B, Gummow B. Equine leptospirosis in tropical Northern Queensland. Aust Vet J. 2013;91(5):190–7.
  4. Divers TJ, Chang Y, Irby NL, Smith JL, Carter CN. Leptospirosis: An important infectious disease in North American horses. Equine Vet J. 2019;51(3):287–92.
  5. Ellis WA. Animal leptospirosis. Leptospira and leptospirosis. 2015;99–137.
  6. Hajihmr, NAFISI MA, Lotfollazadeh S, Ghorbanpour M, abdollapour GR. Seroprevalence of Leptospira interrogans infection in horses from some horse clubs in Tehran by Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). 2016;
  7. Hassanpour A, Zahed SA, Ganjkhanloo A. Evaluation of serum infection rate of four common Leptospira serotypes in traditional farms of Tarom city. 2019;
  8. Pearce JW, Galle LE, Kleiboeker SB, Turk JR, Schommer SK, Dubielizig RR, et al. Detection of Leptospira interrogans DNA and antigen in fixed equine eyes affected with end-stage equine recurrent uveitis. J Vet Diagnostic Investig. 2007;19(6):686–90.
  9. Gilger BC, Salmon JH, Yi NY, Barden CA, Chandler HL, Wendt JA, et al. Uveitis in Horses From the Southeastern. October. 2008;69(10):1329–35.

10.Hamond C, Martins G, Loureiro AP, Pestana C, Lawson-Ferreira R, Medeiros MA, et al. Urinary PCR as an increasingly useful tool for

 

     an accurate diagnosis of leptospirosis in livestock. Vet Res Commun. 2014;38(1):81–5.

  1. Erol E, Jackson CB, Steinman M, Meares K, Donahoe J, Kelly N, et al. A diagnostic evaluation of real‐time PCR, fluorescent antibody and microscopic agglutination tests in cases of equine leptospiral abortion. Equine Vet J. 2015;47(2):171–4.

12.Sauvage AC, Monclin SJ, Elansary M, Hansen P, Grauwels MF. Detection of intraocular Leptospira spp. by real‐time polymerase chain reaction in horses with recurrent uveitis in Belgium. Equine Vet J. 2019;51(3):299–303.

13.Da Silva AS, Jaguezeski AM, Laber IF, von Laer AE, Lovato LT, da Silva MO, et al. Leptospira spp. in horses in southern Brazil: Seroprevalence, infection risk factors, and influence on reproduction. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2020;73:101552.

14.Himebaugh NE, Gilger BC. Role of Leptospira spp. testing and ocular examination in horses with equine recurrent uveitis: A retrospective study of 63 horses. Equine Vet Educ. 2022;34(11):e509–18.

15.Meny P, Iglesias T, Menéndez C, Quintero J, Ríos C, Ashfield N, et al. Seroprevalence of anti‐Leptospira antibodies in equines and associated workers—Isolation of Leptospira interrogans serogroup Canicola from equine urine. Zoonoses Public Health. 2022;69(5):526–36.

  1. Geiger T, Gerhards H, Bjelica B, Mackenthun E, Wollanke B. Analysis of 1840 Equine Intraocular Fluid Samples for the Presence of Anti-Leptospira Antibodies and Leptospiral DNA and the Correlation to Ophthalmologic Findings in Terms of Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU)—A Retrospective Study. Vet Sci. 2022;9(8).
  2. Di Azevedo MIN, Lilenbaum W. Equine genital leptospirosis: Evidence of an important silent chronic reproductive syndrome. Theriogenology. 2022;192:81–8.

 18.Doosti A, Ahmadi R, Arshi A. PCR detection of leotospirosis in Iranian camels. 2012;178–83.

Veterinary and Comparative Biomedical Research
Volume 2, Issue 1
June 2025
Pages 10-15

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics