Seroepidemiology of canine leptospirosis by iELISA and MAT

Aim: The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of antibodies against leptospira using a genus specific and serovar specific antigen by indirect ELISA (iELISA) and Microscopic Agglutination test (MAT), respectively. Materials and Methods: 300 sera samples were collected from dogs, from Pondicherry, suspected to be suffering from Canine leptospirosis and with no history of vaccination. Using the outer membrane proteins (OMP's) of Leptospira interrogans serovar canicola as antigen the leptospiral antibodies were detected by iELISA and compared with the MAT using five commonly infecting serovars (canicola, icterohaemorrhaegiae, grippotyphosa, pomona, australis) as antigens. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out using chi-square test. Result: Out of 300 sera samples, 159 (53 %) and 99 (33 %) sera samples were found to be positive for leptospiral antibodies by iELISA and MAT, respectively. The iELISA employed in this study revealed a very high sensitivity of 94.94 % in comparison with the MAT (59.11 %). However, iELISA showed less specificity (67.66 %) when compared to MAT (96.45 %). By chi-square test, a significant difference (P<0.001) was obtained between the results from iELISA and MAT. Conclusion: The present study revealed that the iELISA was found to be highly sensitive, rapid and easy to perform in comparison with MAT for the detection of canine anti-leptospiral antibodies.