A set of 723 diagnostic sera from human patients,
submitted for the microscopic agglutination
test (MAT) for antibodies to a group of 6 leptospiral serovars, was also
tested by MAT for
antibodies to the recently-discovered Leptospira fainei serovar
hurstbridge.
MAT titres of [ges ]128
to serovar hurstbridge were detected in 13·4% of these sera, and
titres of [ges ]512 in 7·2%. In
contrast, none of 62 sera obtained from a control population of
laboratory staff gave titres of
[ges ]128. The difference between the number of titres of [ges ]128
given by the two groups of sera
was highly significant (P<0·01). The titres observed
may have been due to cross-reactions
with other leptospiral serovars, but this could not be demonstrated. An
alternative explanation
is that serovar hurstbridge is present in the human population.