PREVALENCE OF PATHOGENIC Leptospira spp. IN SMALL MAMMAL HOSTS FROM DUNGUN, TERENGGANU

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira, which is transmitted through infected mammalian species, including small mammals. However, the prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in small mammals, particularly between different site categories in the eastern part of Peninsular Malaysia, is still underexplored. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to determine the species composition of small mammals and the prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. between different site categories from Dungun, Terengganu. We selected five case sites (leptospirosis cases were recorded) and five control sites (no leptospirosis cases were recorded) in Dungun, Terengganu, based on previous reports by the Ministry of Health (MOH) Malaysia (2016-2020). For three consecutive nights, 100 cage traps were used for each trapping session. In addition, kidney samples from captured individuals were extracted for the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) detection of pathogenic Leptospira spp. Overall, 89 individuals from five species were captured (6.43% trapping success), consisting of Rattus norvegicus (n = 39), Rattus rattus (n = 27), Suncus murinus (n = 11), Rattus exulans (n = 10) and Tupaia glis (n = 2). Out of 89 individuals captured, 14 tested positive with a 15.7% (n = 14/89) prevalence rate. R. norvegicus was the most dominant captured species and had the highest number of infected individuals with pathogenic Leptospira (20.5%, n = 8/39). The statistical analysis revealed that there is a significant difference in pathogenic Leptospira spp. between case and control sites (P < 0.05), with control sites recording higher positive individuals (78.6%, n = 11/14) compared to case sites (21.4%, n = 3/14). However, no significant differences were observed between species and sex (P > 0.05). The results show that the monitoring of leptospirosis cases should not only focus on case areas but also control areas in order to prevent the outbreak of this disease in the future.