{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,24]],"date-time":"2026-09-24T01:16:55Z","timestamp":1790212615208,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2014,9,29]],"date-time":"2014-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1411948800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Fondecyt Regular","award":["1101020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1101020"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease of worldwide distribution. A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban and rural environments in southern Chile  (1) to detect domestic cats with serologic evidence of exposure to Leptospira spp.; (2) to determine the prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies; (3) to describe seroprevalences according to different characteristics of the animals, and (4) to identify risk factors associated with the seropositivity in the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). Blood samples were taken from 124 owned cats. A frequentist and Bayesian approach were applied for prevalence estimation. The overall apparent prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies was 8.1% (95% Confident Interval = 3.9\u20134.3). With the Bayesian approach, the overall True Prevalence (TP) was 5.2% (95% Credibility Interval (CrI) = 0.6\u201312.4). The TP for urban cats was 1.8% (95% CrI = 0.1\u20137.2) and the TP for rural felines was 25.2% (95% CrI = 9.3\u201346.6). Cats that live in a place where agricultural activities are performed with water that flows in streams or backwater and cats that live in places near flooded areas had a higher risk of seropositivity in MAT. The exposure to Leptospira spp. in domestic cats of urban and rural origin in Southern Chile is a public health concern that requires an increased awareness and the implementation of preventive measures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani4040612","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2014,9,29]],"date-time":"2014-09-29T11:16:45Z","timestamp":1411989405000},"page":"612-626","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":33,"title":["Leptospira spp. in Domestic Cats from Different Environments: Prevalence of Antibodies and Risk Factors Associated with  the Seropositivity"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"4","author":[{"given":"Luc\u00eda","family":"Az\u00f3car-Aedo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Graduate School, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia,  P.O. Box 567, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gustavo","family":"Monti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Preventive Veterinary Medicine Department, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences,  Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, P.O. Box 567, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ronald","family":"Jara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biochemistry and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, P.O. Box 567, Chile"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,9,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"296","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.14.2.296-326.2001","article-title":"Leptospirosis","volume":"14","author":"Levett","year":"2001","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"256","DOI":"10.5326\/JAAHA-MS-5748","article-title":"Clinical leptospirosis in three cats (2001\u20132009)","volume":"48","author":"Arbour","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Am. Anim. Hosp. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"576","DOI":"10.1177\/1098612X13489217","article-title":"Leptospira species infection in cats: ABCD guidelines on prevention and management","volume":"15","author":"Hartmann","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Feline Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"265","DOI":"10.1016\/S0007-1935(17)32291-1","article-title":"An experimentally induced predator chain transmission of Leptospira ballum from mice to cat","volume":"136","author":"Shophet","year":"1980","journal-title":"Br. Vet. J."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"32","article-title":"Serologic study of feline leptospirosis in Theran, Iran","volume":"1","author":"Jamshidi","year":"2009","journal-title":"Iran. J. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1748-5827.1996.tb02360.x","article-title":"Investigation of possible leptospiral infection in cats in Scotland","volume":"37","author":"Agunloye","year":"1996","journal-title":"J. Small Anim. Pract."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1136\/vr.156.19.615","article-title":"Leptospiral seroepidemiology in a feline hospital population in Greece","volume":"156","author":"Mylonakis","year":"2005","journal-title":"Vet. Rec."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"688","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1939-1676.2012.00900.x","article-title":"The prevalence of leptospiral antibodies in free roaming cats in Worcester County, Massachusetts","volume":"26","author":"Markovich","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Vet. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"174","article-title":"A global research agenda for leptospirosis","volume":"51","author":"Cachay","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Postgrad. Med."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"52","article-title":"Valuation of the level of antibodies anti-Leptospira in cats from the city of Patos-PB","volume":"8","author":"Alves","year":"2003","journal-title":"Clin. Vet."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"122","article-title":"Survey of anti-Leptospira agglutinins stray cats in Uberlandia-MC","volume":"12","author":"Santos","year":"2006","journal-title":"Vet. Not."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Toro, A. (2006). Determinaci\u00f3n a trav\u00e9s del test de ELISA de anticuerpos contra Leptospira en felinos pacientes del Hospital Cl\u00ednico Veterinario de la Universidad de Concepci\u00f3n en Chill\u00e1n. [M.Sc. Thesis, Universidad de Concepci\u00f3n]."},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"Instituto Geogr\u00e1fico Militar. Available online:http:\/\/www.igm.cl."},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"World Health Organization-International Leptospirosis Society (2003). Human Leptospirosis: Guidance for Diagnosis, Surveillance and Control, WHO."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"69","article-title":"Leptospirosis animal. Serogrupos y serovares presentes en Chile y su importancia","volume":"19","author":"Riedemann","year":"1987","journal-title":"Arch. Med. Vet."},{"key":"ref_16","unstructured":"Faine, S. (1982). Guidelines for the Control of Leptospirosis, World Health Organization."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Fletcher, R., and Fletcher, S. (2005). Clinical Epidemiology: The Essentials, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1016\/S0167-5877(02)00092-2","article-title":"Hierarchical bayesian model for prevalence inference and determination of a country\u2019s status for an animal pathogen","volume":"55","author":"Suess","year":"2002","journal-title":"Prev. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"803","DOI":"10.1128\/JCM.41.2.803-809.2003","article-title":"Evaluation of four commercially available rapid serologic tests for diagnosis of leptospirosis","volume":"41","author":"Bajani","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Clin. Microbiol."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"322","DOI":"10.1093\/cid\/cis403","article-title":"Fool\u2019s gold: Why imperfect reference tests are undermining the evaluation of novel diagnostics: A reevaluation of 5 diagnostic tests for leptospirosis","volume":"55","author":"Limmathurotsakul","year":"2012","journal-title":"Clin. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"791","DOI":"10.1007\/s00038-012-0439-9","article-title":"Misclassification errors in prevalence estimation: Bayesian handling with care","volume":"58","author":"Speybroeck","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_22","first-page":"647","article-title":"The incidence of leptospiral agglutination titres in the domestic cat","volume":"77","author":"Lucke","year":"1965","journal-title":"Vet. Rec."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"45","article-title":"Survey of Leptospira infection in domestic cats in the southern Kyushu District","volume":"59","author":"Akuzawa","year":"2006","journal-title":"Jpn. Med. Assoc. J."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"49","article-title":"A serological survey of leptospiral infection of cats in Ahvaz, South-Western of Iran","volume":"5","author":"Mosallanejad","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"146","DOI":"10.1136\/vr.153.5.146","article-title":"Prevalence of Leptospira among farmed and domestic animals in Greece","volume":"153","author":"Burriel","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vet. Rec."},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"166","article-title":"Diagnosis of canine leptospirosis: A reemerging disease of companion animals","volume":"11","author":"Bolin","year":"1996","journal-title":"Semin. Vet. Med. Surg."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"281","DOI":"10.1016\/S0167-5877(03)00157-0","article-title":"Prevalence estimates for paratuberculosis adjusted for test variability using Bayesian analysis","volume":"60","author":"Schukken","year":"2003","journal-title":"Prev. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7177","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2007.07.023","article-title":"Foot-and-mouth disease non-structural protein serology in cattle: Use of a bayesian framework to estimate diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of six ELISA tests and true prevalence in the field","volume":"25","author":"Goris","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"631","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trstmh.2010.07.002","article-title":"Climate change, urbanisation and leptospirosis: Fuelling the fire?","volume":"104","author":"Lau","year":"2010","journal-title":"Trans. R. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1939-1676.2010.0654.x","article-title":"2010 ACVIM small animal concensus statement on leptospirosis: Diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment and prevention","volume":"25","author":"Sykes","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Vet. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1051\/vetres:2006043","article-title":"Use of case-control study and geographic information systems to determinate environmental and demographic risk factors for canine leptospirosis","volume":"38","author":"Ghneim","year":"2007","journal-title":"Vet. Res."},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"606","article-title":"Canine leptospirosis: Epidemiology, pathogenesis, and diagnosis","volume":"26","author":"Sessions","year":"2006","journal-title":"Compend. Contin. Educ. Pract. Vet."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"176","article-title":"Experimental feline leptospirosis","volume":"57","author":"Fessler","year":"1964","journal-title":"Cornell Vet."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"111","article-title":"Laboratory and clinical features of experimental feline leptospirosis","volume":"12","author":"Larsson","year":"1985","journal-title":"Int. J. Zoonoses"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"597","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.82.4.597","article-title":"Risk factors associated with antibodies to leptospires in inner-city residents of Baltimore: A protective role for cats","volume":"82","author":"Childs","year":"1992","journal-title":"Am. J. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.2460\/javma.2004.225.72","article-title":"Evaluation of environmental risk factors for leptospirosis in dogs: 36 Cases (1997\u20132002)","volume":"1","author":"Ward","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.1016\/j.prevetmed.2012.05.004","article-title":"Evaluations of hidrologic risk factors for canine leptospirosis: 94 cases (2002\u20132009)","volume":"107","author":"Raghavan","year":"2012","journal-title":"Prev. Vet. Med."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"557","DOI":"10.1007\/s12038-008-0074-z","article-title":"Leptospirosis: An emerging global public health problem","volume":"33","author":"Vijayachari","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Biosci."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.1111\/jvim.12287","article-title":"Serologic and urinary PCR survey of leptospirosis in healthy cats and in cats with kidney disease","volume":"28","author":"Rodriguez","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Vet. Intern. Med."}],"container-title":["Animals"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/4\/4\/612\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:16:28Z","timestamp":1760217388000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2076-2615\/4\/4\/612"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2014,9,29]]},"references-count":39,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2014,12]]}},"alternative-id":["ani4040612"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ani4040612","relation":{},"ISSN":["2076-2615"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2076-2615","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2014,9,29]]}}}