Identification of vaginal Leptospira in cervical-vaginal mucus of slaughtered pigs in the amazon region.

Swine genital leptospirosis is an infectious disease that leads to economic losses due to abortions, stillbirths, and reproductive failures. Considering the scarcity of studies regarding this condition, the objective of the present study was to identify and analyse leptospires infecting the reproductive tract of female pigs slaughtered in the Amazon region. Cervical-vaginal mucus (CVM) from 150 non-pregnant females were collected and submitted to molecular analysis. Initially, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on the lipL32 gene was performed. A total of 26.7% (40/150) samples were positive, indicating the presence of Leptospira sp. DNA. Subsequently, positive lipL32-PCR samples were evaluated using secY nested-PCR and sequencing procedures. Eleven amplicons could be sequenced and were identified as Leptospira interrogans (100% identity). Results from phylogenetic analyses led to identification of a putative strain of L. interrogans serogroup Australis, which is indicative of this being a serogroup. In the present study, there was detection of female pigs with leptospires in CVM indicating the possibility of venereal transmission. The large number of genital positive cases could indicate that genital leptospirosis syndrome could also be relevant onto swine production.