Detection of Antibodies to Non-Vaccinal Leptospira Serovars in Dogs in Jos North and Jos South Local Government Area

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence of non-vaccinal Leptospira serovars in dogs in Jos metropolis. A total of 200 blood samples of different dogs were collected from Jos North and Jos South local government areas of Plateau State to detect antibodies to non-vaccinal Leptospira serovars using microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and parameters of age, breed, location and sex were determined. Data obtained were presented using descriptive statistics and Chi-squared Test was used to test for association between the variables. In a total of 129 dogs were positive, with prevalence of 20 (35.71%) in puppies (1-4 month), 72 (83.72%) in growers (4-7 month) and 37 (63.79%) in adult (˃ 7months). The association between puppies, growers and adults was not statistically significant (p˃0.05). Although there was statistical significance (p˂0.05) between females and males examined, 75 (70.09%) of the 93 females examined were positive while 54(58.06%) of the 107 males examined were positive. 67 (54.03%) of 112 exotic breed were positive and 62 (81.58%) of 78 indigenous breed were positive. However there was statistical significance (p˂0.05) between the exotic and indigenous breeds and also there was statistical significance (p˂0.05) between Jos North and Jos South local governments with 82 (67.21%) were positive out of 122 from Jos North and 47 (60.26%) out of 78 from Jos South were positive. It is therefore concluded that there is a high prevalence of antibodies to non-vaccinal leptospira serovar in the growers, indigenous and in Jos north local government and therefore it is encouraged that adequate vaccination and proper management to reduce transmission of the leptospira.

Keywords: Non-vaccinal Leptospira Serovars, antibodies, Jos, Prevalence.