Genital bovine leptospirosis: A new look for an old disease

Abstract

Bovine leptospirosis is often associated with host-adapted leptospires infections, such as strains belonging to the Sejroe serogroup. Although bovine leptospirosis by adapted strains may result in abortions, fetal death, premature births and the birth of weak and/or low-weight calves, this infection is more closely associated with subtler syndromes, such as subfertility and early embryonic death. In this way, this silent disease can go unnoticed and undiagnosed, compromising reproductive efficiency with a consequent decrease in the productivity of herds over long periods. For many years, genital tract infection has been considered a secondary effect of renal infection with the assumption being that leptospires are found in the genital tract due to bacteremia caused by renal colonization. In contrast to this hypothesis, there is some evidence in the literature that suggests that genital leptospirosis should be considered a specific syndrome dissociated from renal/systemic disease. Therefore, this paper aims to gather and critically analyze information about genital leptospirosis in cattle, considering the disease a distinct syndrome, herein denominated bovine genital leptospirosis (BGL), that requires a unique approach to diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Embryo loss; Hardjo; Leptospira; Subfertility.