35 Intraocular leptospira isolations in 32 horses suffering from equine recurrent uveitis (ERU)

130 vitreous samples, systematically collected in 1998 from 117 horses duri ng vitrectomy, were cultured for the presence of leptospires. All horses su ffered from equine recurrent uveitis (ERU), also known as periodic ophthalm ia or moon blindness, and were treated surgically to combat painful attacks , and to preserve vision. In 35 out of 130 vitreous samples (35/130 = 26.9 %), leptospires could be i solated. These isolates belong to the grippotyphosa serogroup (n = 31) and to the australis serogroup (n = 4). So, for the first time, leptospires wer e recovered from eyes in vivo in a large number of horses with ERU. Vitreou s samples and one serum sample from each horse were also tested for leptosp iral antibodies using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). In 92 vitre ous samples (92/130 = 70.7 %) and 96 serum samples (96/117 = 82.0 %) leptos piral antibodies were detected at a dilution of > 1:100. The presence of in tact leptospires and specific antibodies in eyes affected with ERU demonstr ates a local antibody production to leptospiral antigen. These results indicate an important etiological role of leptospires in equi ne recurrent uveitis.