Sero-Epidemiology of Bovine Leptospirosis and
Associated Risk Factors in a Flood Affected Zone of Pakistan
Muhammad Ijaz*, Shahid Hussain Farooqi,
Amjad Islam Aqib, Painda Bakht, Ahmad Ali, Awais Ghaffar and Sehrish
Saleem
Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery,
University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 54600 Lahore, Pakistan *Corresponding author: mijaz@uvas.edu.pk
Abstract
Bovine leptospirosis
is an emerging zoonotic disease that compromises farm economy. Keeping in view
limited studies on bovine leptospirosis, this project was designed to estimate
its sero-prevalence in flood-hit zone of Pakistan, along with its associated
risk factors. A total of 385 serum samples were randomly collected from tehsils
Rajanpur, Jampur and Rojhan of district Rajanpur with necessary information
captured in data form for risk factors analysis. Chi-square test, univariable
and multivariable logistic regression analyses were applied to check association
of hypothesized risk factors with disease. The study showed 23.12% of the bovine
samples positive for Leptospira antibodies with non-significant difference
(P>0.05) between cattle (25.52%) and buffaloes (20.72%). The non-significant
difference (P>0.05) of bovine leptospirosis among tehsils of study area
presented 26.56, 21.88 and 20.93% in tehsils Jampur, Rajanpur and Rohan,
respectively. Chi-square test analysis depicted body temperature and
socio-economic status of worker positively associated (P<0.05) with the disease.
The univariable analysis based on Mantel Haentzel test and Wald statistics found
early age, confined system, fodder type, jaundice status, and socio-economic
status of the animal’s owner as significant candidates (Odds ratio OR>1) while,
multivariable logistic regression showed bovine specie, gender of animal, fodder
type, jaundice status, and socio-economic status of the animal’s owner as key
risk factors for leptospirosis dynamics (Odds Ratio>1). The study concluded
that, the flood hit area is having considerable prevalence of bovine
leptospirosis and is positively associated with presence or absence of certain
animal, management and environmental factors.
To Cite This Article:
Ijaz M, Farooqi SH, Aqib AI, Bakht P, Ali A,
Ghaffar A and Saleem S, 2018. Sero-epidemiology of Bovine Leptospirosis and
associated risk factors in a Flood Affected Zone of Pakistan. Pak Vet J, 38(2):
179-183. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2018.027