Comparison of Leptospira interrogans infection in the goats and sheep

Most leptospiral infections in sheep and goat are asymptomatic but may result in high fever, abortion, stillbirth, agalactiae. There is a different foraging behavior between sheep and goat that may cause the different prevalence of Leptospira interrogans infection in sheep and goats.
The purpose of the present study was to compare the prevalence of L. interrogans antibodies in sheep and goats.
Blood samples were taken from 246 sheep and 210 goats in 12 herds from 8 areas of Ahvaz where the animals were kept together. Sera were initially screened at dilution of 1:100 against 8 live serovars of L. intrrogans: pomana, canicola, hardjo, ballom, ictrohaemorrhagiae, grippotyphosa, tarasovi and australis using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT).
The prevalence of leptospiral infection was 8.53% in sheep and 10.95% in goats. The highest reacting leptospira in both species was L.i. Pomona with a reactor rate of 68.18% in sheep and 56% in goats, followed in descending order by ictrohaemorrhagiae (18.8%), canicula, hardjo and grippotyphosa (each of them 4.54%), in sheep and ictrohaemorrhagiae (28%), canicula (16%) in goats. Statistical analysis showed that were no significant differences between sheep and goat (P=0.428). There were no significant differences among age groups in sheep (p=0.301) and goats (p= 0.363), but there was a tendency in adults sheep and goats (≥3years) to be more seropositive than young sheep and goats. Seroprevalence of leptospiral infection among various areas in sheep (p= 0.464) and goats (p= 0.710) was also not significantly different.
It is concluded that there is no difference between sheep and goats in terms of leptospiral infection when they are kept together in the same herd and husbandry condition.