# Serological Investigation and Epidemiological Analysis of Bovine Leptospirosis in Egypt
## 4 Discussion  
Cattle have an essential role from both social and economic aspects, and are the primary source of meat and milk [22]; however, the public health and economic consequences of leptospirosis are of growing concern due to the clinical impacts and its implication in several reproductive disorders, besides its role in reduction of milk production. Leptospirosis has been considered an alarming and re-emerging zoonosis with a worldwide distribution [32]. The disease is usually misdiagnosed as other tropical febrile diseases due to similarities in clinical manifestations. Although treatment regimens could be started based on clinical judgments, early diagnosis has become a vital guide for chemotherapeutic interventions [33]. As mentioned earlier, ELISA is an immunoassay based on the specific interaction of antibodies with their corresponding antigen. This immunoassay has been considered a very sensitive serologic test particularly suited for determining antibodies against a wide range of bacterial, viral, and parasitic illnesses [34; 35; 36]. The test strips of the SERION ELISA classic microtiter plate are coated with specific antigens of the pathogen of interest was used in the present work. The present study provides interesting findings in relation to the occurrence of leptospirosis in cattle from the Nile Delta province of Dakahlia, as well as baseline epidemiological information regarding the disease in the same area. In the present work, the seroprevalence of leptospirosis was 39.33% (236/600). A review of the available literature at national level revealed that very limited studies have explored the status of leptospirosis from the same province [25; 26]. Contrary to the present results, lower prevalence rates of bovine leptospirosis (_L. interrogans_ serogroup Hardjo serverovar Hardjo serverovar Hardjo serverovar) were previously reported among cattle in other countries using ELISA, including 5.77% India [37], 3.5% and 8.44% in Nigeria 2011 [38; 39] and 23.5% in Kenya between September 2016 and July 2017 [40]. In addition, other previous research in Pakistan \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Predictors**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**B**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**S.E.**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Wald**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**D.F**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Significance**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Odd**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**95.0\% C.I for**} \\  & & & & & & **Ratio** & & **EXP(B)** \\ \hline Repeat breeder & 1.923 & 0.823 & 5.460 & 1 & 0.019 & 6.841 & 1.363 & 34.324 \\ \hline Repeat breeder (yes) & \(-1.923\) & 0.823 & 5.460 & 1 & 0.019 & 0.146 & 0.029 & 0.733 \\ \hline Drop milk yield & 1.651 & 0.702 & 5.532 & 1 & 0.019 & 5.212 & 1.317 & 20.629 \\ \hline Drop milk yield (yes) & \(-1.651\) & 0.702 & 5.532 & 1 & 0.019 & 0.192 & 0.048 & 0.759 \\ \hline Constant & \(-0.670\) & 0.185 & 13.073 & 1 & 0.000 & 0.512 & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 6: Multivariate analysis of risk factors associated to _Leptospira_ spp. infection in cattle. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**ELISA**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**ELISA**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Predicted Group Membership**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Total**} \\ \cline{3-3} \cline{5-6}  & & **Infected** & & & **Non-Infected** & \\ \hline \multirow{2}{*}{Count} & Infected & 120 (50.85\%) & 116 (49.15\%) & 236 (100\%) \\ \cline{2-6}  & Non-infected & 60 (16.48\%) & 304 (83.52\%) & 364 (100\%) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 7: Results of animal classification into infected and non-infected. reported a prevalence rate of 23.12% for bovine leptospirosis in cattle and buffalo using ELISA [8]. On the other hand, the seroprevalence obtained herein was similar to that reported in a previous study in Egypt, which found a seroprevalence rate of 37.6% (235/625) for _Leptospira_ serovars among cattle from several governorates in Egypt using MAT [24].