A rapid method for the detection of leptospiraemia

Authors: Thompson JC, Mackintosh CG
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 27, Issue 10, pp 224-225, Oct 1979
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Diagnostic procedures, Zoonosis, Disease/defect, Infectious disease, Public health
Article class: Correspondence

---

Abstract: Leptospires can be demonstrated in the blood of animals during the leptospiraemic phase of infection by direct examination using dark field microscopy (DFM) or by the more time-consuming procedures of culture or animal inoculation. Wolff describes a double centrifugation method in which blood, mixed with an anticoagulant, is centrifuged at slow speed to deposit the blood cells. The supernatant is examined by DFM and, if leptospires are not seen, the plasma is centrifuged at high speed and the deposit is examined by DFM or by a fluorescent antibody or staining technique. Based on the first stage of Wolff’s technique, we have developed a rapid and simple microhaematocrit tube method for the detection of leptospiraemia…

---