Detection and characterization of <i>Leptospira</i> spp. in dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease in Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a serious bacterial disease that affects both humans and animals. A wide range of symptoms have been described in humans; the disease in dogs is commonly associated with kidney and/or liver disease. In Malaysia, information about the common serovars infecting dogs is limited. Therefore, we investigated the occurrences of leptospirosis in 124 pet dogs diagnosed with kidney and/or liver disease. Blood, urine, abdominal effusion, and/or kidney and liver were collected from the dogs. Based on microscopic agglutination testing, 53 of 124 (42.7%) dogs were seropositive for leptospiral exposure. Sera were frequently positive to serovars Bataviae (<i>n</i> = 12), Javanica (<i>n</i> = 10), and Icterohaemorrhagiae (<i>n</i> = 10). Direct detection using PCR showed that 42 of 124 (33.9%) of the whole blood and 36 of 113 (31.9%) urine samples were positive for pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> spp. By PCR, 2 of 23 (9.1%) kidney and 2 of 23 (9.1%) liver were positive for pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> spp. Abdominal effusion from 4 dogs were PCR-positive for pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> spp. The species detected were <i>L. interrogans</i>, <i>L. borgpetersenii</i>, <i>L. kirschneri</i>, and <i>L. kmetyi</i> by partial 16S rRNA sequencing. We further identified and characterized 11 <i>Leptospira</i> spp. isolates from 8 dogs as serovars Bataviae, Javanica, and Australis. The mortality rate of the <i>Leptospira</i>-infected dogs was high (18 of 53; 34%).