A New Serovar in the Grippotyphosa Serogroup Comprising Leptospiral Isolates from Different Regions

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) studies performed with leptospiral isolates led us to suspect the existence of a new serovar in the Grippotyphosa serogroup. The results obtained with reference serological techniques used in leptospiral identification, including cross-agglutination absorption and monoclonal antibody techniques, confirmed the existence of a new serovar exemplified by strain Dadas I. Four other isolates from different regions of the world were submitted for identification by PFGE and produced Not I restriction patterns similar to that of strain Dadas I. Our data demonstrate the power of PFGE for identifying leptospiral isolates. The name dadas is proposed for the new serovar.