{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.04517396184062851, 'fraction_numerical': 0.03170594837261504, 'mean_word_length': 5.400359066427289, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Serological surveillance of canine leptospirosis in Mongolia

LEPTOSPIROSIS is a disease of worldwide distribution (Cullen and others 2002) caused by spirochaete bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Although dogs are the only companion animals in Mongolia, there is little information on the infectious diseases, including leptospirosis, in dogs in the country. Since dogs in Mongolia are not vaccinated against leptospirosis, seroconversion cannot be due to vaccination. This short communication describes serological surveillance carried out as a preliminary step in order to evaluate the prevalence of leptospirosis in dogs in Mongolia. A total of 163 serum samples was collected randomly in July 2003 from owned dogs in two geographically distinct provincial centres: 72 samples from Choibalsan (the provincial centre of Dornod province) and 91 from Mandalgovi (the provincial centre of Dundgovi province). There are approximately 4000 owned dogs in Choibalsan and 3000 in Mandalgovi; they are used as guard dogs outdoors rather than being kept as pets, and 80 to 90 per cent of them are male. The grassland steppe of Choibalsan, in the east of the country, is richer in soil humidity. It has an abattoir where various species of livestock from the eastern part of Mongolia are slaughtered; the animals for slaughter are driven to the abattoir on foot. Mandalgovi, in the centre of Mongolia, has a combination of dry steppe and desert, with inadequate water resources. There is no abattoir in this area. In both areas, the families who own dogs live in dwellings without a mains water supply; water pumped from a deep well is transported by vehicle to a water-supplying pool for distribution. A commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (Immunocomb; Biogal-Galed Labs) for the detection of canine immunoglobulin (Ig) G antibodies to leptospiral common antigens was used for screening the serum samples, following the manufacturer’s instructions; the relationship between the CombScale value and the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) titre (CombScale value/MAT titre) were as follows: 2/1:100, 3/1:200, 4/1:400, 5/1:800 and 6/1:1600. Samples with a CombScale value of 2 or above were considered positive. For an indirect ELISA to detect IgM antibodies to leptospiral common antigens, disrupted cells of strain Akiyami C, serovar Australis were used as the antigen (Kida and others 1982); the assay procedure was that described by Ausubel and others (1999), and was performed with slight modifications. For the MAT, the antigen panel consisted of the following live leptospires of serovars (strains): Australis (Akiyami C), Autumnalis (Akiyami A), Ballum (Mus 127), Bataviae (Swart), Bratislava (Jez-Bratislava), Canicola (Hond Utrecht IV), Copenhageni (Shibaura #9), Cynopteri (3522 C), Grippotyphosa (Moskva V), Hardjo (Hardjoprajitno), Hebdomadis (Akiyami B), Icterohaemorrhagiae (RGA), Javanica (Veldrat Bataviae 46), Mangus (TRVL/CAREC/137774), Monjakov (Monjakov), Pyrogenes (Salinem), Ruparupae (M 3), Saxkoebing (Mus 24), Sentot (Sentot 90 C), Tarassovi (Perepelitsin), Weaveri (CZ 390) and Whitcombi (Whitcomb), grown in tryptose phosphate broth (TPB) containing 10 per cent normal rabbit serum. The dilution of serum sample that showed more than 50 per cent agglutination with the testing serovar when compared with a control culture diluted 1:2 in phosphate-buffered saline was considered positive (Faine 1982, Stallman 1984). The antigen that gave the highest titre was chosen as a serovar of the infective Leptospira. Veterinary Record (2005) 157, 120-121