Leptospirosis in dogs and cats on the island of Trinidad: West Indies

ABSTRACT

Concerning previous observations on dog populations in other parts of the world, notably Japan, the Phillippine Islands, and some countries in South America, we found that a high percentage of dogs in Trinidad are infected with organisms from many serogroups of Leptospira. Serogroups Canicola and Icterohaemorrhagiae were most commonly found. Ten isolates obtained from 50 kidneys from stray dogs (20 percent infectivity rate) were typed as portland-vere (six) and canicola (two) of the Canicola serogroup, copenhageni of the Icterohaemorrhagiae serogroup (one), and georgia in the Hebdomadis serogroup (one). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first record of a serotype in the Hebdomadis serogroup being isolated from a dog. A cat isolation was identified as canicola. Serological results show that 55 percent or more of stray dogs had been exposed as opposed to only 12.5 percent of the cats examined. Serogroups Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae and Hebdomadis are found most frequently in dogs, cats, mongooses, and man in Trinidad. (AU)