Qualitative detection of pathogenic Leptospira DNA

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic natural-focal infectious disease of wild and domestic animals and humans caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira and recorded worldwide. The widespread occurrence of leptospires and leptospirosis is associated with the broad range of reservoir hosts of pathogenic leptospires and susceptible animal species.

Two classification systems are currently used for leptospires:

• a serological system defining serogroups and serovars;
• molecular taxonomy for identification of genomospecies, based on grouping strains with DNA-DNA homology of 70% or higher into one species (Guernier et al., 2018). According to phylogenetic analysis, leptospires are divided by pathogenicity into saprophytic (26 species), intermediate (21 species), and pathogenic (17 species) lineages (Vincent et al., 2019).

Pathogenic leptospires belonging to three genomospecies have been shown to circulate in Russia: L. interrogans, L. kirschneri, and L. borgpetersenii.

Ampli-Vet-Leptospirosis reagent kit

The Ampli-Vet-Leptospirosis reagent kit is intended for qualitative detection of DNA of pathogenic leptospires, including Leptospira interrogans, L. kirschneri, L. borgpetersenii, L. noguchii, L. weilii, L. santarosai, L. kmetyi, L. mayottensis, L. alexanderi, L. alstonii, and others, by real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) with fluorescence detection.

The assay is performed on DNA preparations isolated from biological material from infected or diseased animals (whole blood, urine, urethral swabs), pathological material (spleen, lungs, liver, kidneys, etc.), and bacterial cultures. The kit can be used for etiological diagnosis of leptospirosis when examining material from infected animals or animals suspected of disease.

The analytical sensitivity of the reagent kit is no more than 5.0×10² DNA copies (genome equivalents) per millilitre of sample.