Żmudzki Jacek, Ostrowska Monika, Arent Zbigniew, Frant Maciej, Kochanowski Maciej, Nowak Agnieszka, Zębek Sylwia, Kalinowski Damian, Podgórska Katarzyna
Department of Swine Diseases, National Veterinary Research Institute, Pulawy, Poland.
Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Krakow, Poland.
Equine Vet J. 2025 Aug 4. doi: 10.1111/evj.70069.
Leptospirosis in horses is associated with various clinical signs, potentially leading to fatal outcomes. Additionally, the disease may pose a zoonotic risk to individuals involved in handling infected animals. Implementing a serological monitoring programme in the equine population is one of the key tools used to reduce the risk of transmission of Leptospira infections to humans.
To provide new insights into the seroprevalence of leptospirosis in domestic horses in Poland.
Serological monitoring program.
Data were collected from serological surveys of horse serum samples across 14 of the 16 provinces between 2019 and 2023. A total of 4474 horse serum samples were tested using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), with 8 Leptospira serovars from 7 European serogroups. Statistical analyses and data visualisation were performed using Python-based libraries. Prevalence was calculated as absolute and relative percentages. Pairwise prevalence comparisons employed chi-squared tests with adjustments for multiple comparisons. Bayesian posterior probabilities were estimated to evaluate prevalence differences between groups.
The 5-year study showed a relatively high exposure (25.1%) of horses to Leptospira antigens in Poland. Dominant Leptospira serogroups were: Sejroe (39.2%), Pomona (14.6%), Bratislava (11.2%), and Grippotyphosa (10.1%). Pomorskie recorded the highest percentage of positive samples (29.2%). Conversely, Lubuskie exhibited the lowest prevalence at 16.2%.
Details on the uses of horses were not available.
This analysis provides valuable data on the circulation of Leptospira serogroups across different regions over time. The high seroprevalence of Leptospira in the Polish horse population underscores the necessity of ongoing monitoring, which will aid in the protection of individual horses, herds, and humans from potential infections.
马的钩端螺旋体病与多种临床症状相关，可能导致致命后果。此外，该疾病可能对接触感染动物的人员构成人畜共患病风险。在马群中实施血清学监测计划是降低钩端螺旋体感染传播给人类风险的关键工具之一。
为波兰家马钩端螺旋体病的血清流行率提供新的见解。
血清学监测计划。
收集了2019年至2023年期间波兰16个省份中14个省份马血清样本的血清学调查数据。使用显微镜凝集试验（MAT）对总共4474份马血清样本进行了检测，检测了来自7个欧洲血清群的8种钩端螺旋体血清型。使用基于Python的库进行统计分析和数据可视化。患病率以绝对百分比和相对百分比计算。成对患病率比较采用卡方检验并对多重比较进行调整。估计贝叶斯后验概率以评估组间患病率差异。
这项为期5年的研究表明，波兰的马对钩端螺旋体抗原的暴露率相对较高（25.1%）。主要的钩端螺旋体血清群为： sejroe（39.2%）、波摩那（14.6%）、布拉迪斯拉发（11.2%）和致热（10.1%）。波美拉尼亚记录的阳性样本百分比最高（29.2%）。相反，卢布斯卡的患病率最低，为16.2%。
没有关于马用途的详细信息。
该分析提供了关于钩端螺旋体血清群随时间在不同地区传播的有价值数据。波兰马群中钩端螺旋体的高血清流行率凸显了持续监测的必要性，这将有助于保护个体马、马群和人类免受潜在感染。
