Nationwide Survey of Leptospira Antibodies in Dogs in Japan: Results from Microscopic Agglutination Test and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay.

The article presents a study on the nationwide survey conducted in Japan concerning common infectious disease called Leptospirosis which is caused by Leptospira (L.) interrogans sensu lato. It cites the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) with 5 major L. interrogans serovars and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with recombinant OmpL1 protein as antigens, that were used to evaluate the serum samples of 801 dogs that were collected in the country. The results show that 27% of dogs being tested were MAT-positive and 3.6% were ELISA-positive. It suggests that there are dogs in Japan that have subclinical leptospira infection. It states that the findings on the first survey being conducted, is important not for clinical veterinary medicine only, but for public health as well.