The detection of leptospirae in cattle urine

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Abstract
Hamster inoculation, medium inoculation and microscopical methods were used for the detection of Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona organisms in bovine urine. Urine samples were collected from both naturally and experimentally infected animals during the period when leptospiruria could be expected. Inoculation into hamsters of 0.5 ml of urine from each of 14 samples resulted in 5 positives. The inoculation of 0.025 ml of the same sample into semi-solid EMJH medium gave 10 positives. From a cumulative total of 46 urine samples, 28 were positive using dark-ground microscopy of centrifuged urine deposits and 35 were positive using media inoculation. A cumulative total of 126 urine samples were examined, after centrifugation, under dark-ground microscopy and leptospirae were detected in 60. Fluorouracil (100 mg/ml) proved to be beneficial for successful isolations in media, whereas neomycin (5 mg/ml) did not.