Comparative study between microscopic agglutination and complement fixation tests in experimental canine leptospirosis.

In order to evaluate the antibody response to pathologic leptospira from both serovars icterohaemorrhagiae and canicola, dogs were experimentally inoculated with these leptospiras. Each of the serovar were inoculated in 15 dogs and the antibody response in the acute phase of infected was followed by microscopic agglutination and complement fixation tests. Complement fixing antibodies were detected in both groups at the 4th day post infection and agglutinins appeared in circulation at the 7th day post infection when homologous antigens were used. On the 63rd day post infection with serovar canicola and on 56th day post infection with serovar icterohaemorrhagiae, complement fixing antibodies could no longer be detected but, in both experimental groups, specific agglutinins were presented in significant titers.