Leptospirosis in pigs, dogs, rodents, humans, and water in an area of the Colombian tropics

Alfonso Calderón,Virginia Rodríguez,Salim Máttar,Germán Arrieta

doi:10.1007/s11250-013-0508-y

Alfonso Calderón, Virginia Rodríguez + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-013-0508-y

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Abstract

Leptospirosis is a reemerging zoonosis of global distribution and is one of the causes of hemorrhagic fevers in the tropics. We sought to determine seroprevalence in humans and animals and isolate Leptospira interrogans sensu lato in domestic animals, rodents, and water sources. The study was conducted in a tropical area of the middle Sinú in Cordoba, Colombia. In a prospective descriptive study, we collected blood and urine from pigs and dogs, sera from rural human workers, sera and kidney macerates of rodents, and water samples from environmental sources. We used microagglutination to screen for antibodies to 13 serovars. Strains were cultured on the Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris medium and confirmed by PCR amplifying lipL32 gene. Seroprevalence was 55.9% in pigs, 35.2% in dogs, and 75.8% in humans; no antibody was detected, and no Leptospira were isolated from kidney macerates of rodents. Seven L. interrogans sensu lato strains were isolated: three from pigs, two from dogs, and two from water. High seroprevalence in pigs, dogs, and humans, concomitant to isolation of strains, demonstrates that in Cordoba, transmission exists among animals, the environment, and humans, which warrants the implementation of public health intervention measures to reduce the epidemiological impact of leptospirosis in the region.

Highlights

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of global distribution; it is considered a reemerging disease, endemic in tropical countries, which, because of their geoclimatic and social conditions, favor its transmission (Guerra 2013)
Our aim was to measure the seroprevalence of Leptospira infection in humans and animals and isolate Leptospira interrogans sensu lato from animals and water sources
Considering a seroprevalence maximum (50 %), 95 % reliability, and 5 % standard error, the sample size for the microagglutination test (MAT) was 377, but blood samples were taken from 383 pigs in 18 farms

Summary

Introduction

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of global distribution; it is considered a reemerging disease, endemic in tropical countries, which, because of their geoclimatic and social conditions, favor its transmission (Guerra 2013). Humans can be infected with any serovar of Leptospira from any animal or environment, basically, through contact with fluids from infected animals (Lim 2009; Marga et al 2013). Leptospirosis is considered an occupational disease, primarily affecting farmers, fishermen, veterinarians, and workers in sewers and slaughterhouses (Brown et al 2011). A risk of infection for humans is the exposure during water-related recreational activities (Monahan et al 2009; Marga et al 2013)

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