Leptospira interrogans in the genital tract of sheep. Research on ewes and rams experimentally infected with serovar hardjo (hardjobovis)
Farina, R.; Cerri, D.; Renzoni, G.; Andreani, E.; Mani, P.; Ebani, V.; Pedrini, A.; Nuvoloni, R.
New Microbiologica 19(3): 235-242
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 1121-7138 PMID: 8841039 Document Number: 458356
To verify if Leptospira hardjo can colonize the male and female genital organs of sheep, 9 animals (6 non pregnant ewes and 3 mature rams) were infected with a strain of L. hardjobovis recently recovered from the kidneys of a seropositive ewe. Postinfection controls (bacteriologic, serologic, immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy) failed to disclose the presence of leptospires in the uterus and oviducts, testicles, epididymis, prostate and bulbourethral glands of animals used for the experiment and slaughtered from 37 to 242 postinfection days. All animals showed a renal localization of L. hardjobovis lasting for the entire period of the study (over 8 months). These results emphasize the important role of sheep as maintenance hosts of this serovar.