Abstract
Leptospirosis, a zoonosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira, primarily affects tropical, developing regions, especially communities without adequate sanitation. Outbreaks of leptospirosis have been linked with the presence of pathogenic Leptospira in water. In this study, we measured the physicochemical characteristics (temperature, pH, salinity, turbidity, electrical conductivity, and total dissolved solids (TDS)) of surface waters from an urban slum in Salvador, Brazil, and analyzed their associations with the presence and concentration of pathogenic Leptospira reported previously. We built logistic and linear regression models to determine the strength of association between physicochemical parameters and the presence and concentration of Leptospira. We found that salinity, TDS, pH, and type of water were strongly associated with the presence of Leptospira. In contrast, only pH was associated with the concentration of the pathogen in water. The study of physico-chemical markers can contribute to a better understanding of the occurrence of Leptospira in water and to the identification of sources of risk in urban slum environments.
Highlights
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with global distribution that has emerged as a health problem in urban slum communities in tropical and developing countries [1], causing over 1 million cases and almost 60,000 deaths every year [2]
We analyzed sewage and standing water samples collected in a previous study which aimed to characterize the spatio-temporal distribution of pathogenic Leptospira [16] in order to evaluate associations with physicochemical characteristics
PH, total dissolved solids (TDS), electrical conductivity, and salinity were different between water samples that contained pathogenic Leptospira and negative water samples (Table 1)
Summary
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with global distribution that has emerged as a health problem in urban slum communities in tropical and developing countries [1], causing over 1 million cases and almost 60,000 deaths every year [2]. Leptospirosis is caused by pathogenic spirochetes of the genus Leptospira. Pathogenic Leptospira colonize the kidneys of domestic and wild mammals, notably in rodents who act as chronic carriers, and shed the pathogen in urine [3]. Human infection occurs through contact with infected animal urine or soil and water contaminated with pathogenic Leptospira [4]. The environment plays a central role in the spillover infections from animals to humans
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