Serological and molecular characterization of Leptospira kirschneri serogroup Grippotyphosa isolated from bovine in Brazil.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by a bacterium of the genus Leptospira that affects domestic animals, including cattle. Despite of this importance in livestock, little is known about the epidemiology of leptospirosis in cattle in Brazil and other tropical countries. In this context, the objective of this study was to perform the culture of urine and kidney (n = 372 animals) of slaughtered bovines of Minas Gerais state (Brazil), in order to obtain pure cultures of Leptospira strains and carry out its characterization by serological (microscopic agglutination test) and molecular techniques (rrs, secY sequencing and variable-number tandem-repeat genotyping).