ISOLATION OF LEPTOSPIRA-INTERROGANS SEROVARS BARDJO AND KENNEWICKI FROM APPARENTLY NORMAL CATTLE

Serum samples from 361 clinically healthy bovines slaughtered at the Valdivia abattoir were examined for the presence of leptospiral antibodies and isolation of the spirochaeta from the kidney was attempted. By means of the microscopic agglutination test it was shown that 162 (44.9%) animals reacted positively, mainly against serovars hardjo and pomona. Culture of renal samples led to the isolation of 50 (13.9%) leptospiral strains which were identified as serovar hardjo bovis A (36), hardjo bovis B (3), and kennewicki (11). It was shown that 13 (26%) carriers had no leptospiral seroagglutinins and 10 (20%) reacted to serovars other than the isolated ones.