The isolation of leptospires from stray dogs in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

The search of leptospires was conducted in kidneys of 1,415 stray dogs in the city of São Paulo--Brazil. From them 35 isolations were got, serovar canicola was the most frequent (32 samples) followed by copenhageni (2 samples) and pomona (1 sample). For the first time serovar pomona was isolated from dog in Latin America. Also, monthly and seasonal variations are discussed in relation to the prevalence of leptospirosis.