Leptospirosis infection through insemination of animals.

The semen of animals in spontaneous and experimental leptospirosis was investigated by bacteriological, immunological and biological methods. It has been found that pathogenic leptospirae (L. pomona, L. hebdomadis) are well preserved in the semen and in media used for its dilution. Leptospirae are eliminated with the semen. The initial strain of the agent was isolated from the semen and secretions of 6 out of 26 experimentally infected rabbits and 4 spontaneously recovered bulls (L. hebdomadis). Specific leptospiral antibodies appear in the semen of infected animals. The dynamics of the titre of these antibodies corresponds to the dynamics of the antibody titre in the blood. It is recommended to use the semen for the agglutination reaction. The application of semen infected with pathogenic leptospirae for artificial insemination causes the animals falling ill with leptospirosis accompanied by abortions, reduced fertility and stillbirths of rabbits.