Abstract
THE OCCURRENCE of leptospirosis in feral rodents in southwestern Georgia vas investigated in an effort to determine the importance of these animals as reservoirs of leptospiras transmissible to man and to evaluate the importance of habitat in the perpetuation of infections in nature. These studies were conducted between October, 1953, and July, 1955, after which date emphasis was shifted from rodents to larger feral mammals.' The importance of leptospirosis in the southeastern states has increased greatly in recent years. While it is most commonly associated with domestic animals, recent outbreaks of the disease in human beings in Alabama,2 North Carolina,3 and Georgia4 have demonstrated the need of additional information on possible wildlife reservoirs and methods of transmission. Rodent reservoirs of leptospiras have been demonstrated in various parts of the world.5-9 The first Leptospira isolation in the United States was Leptospira icterohemorrhagiae from wild rats.'0 Leptospira ballum has been isolated from rural house mice in Virginia and from stock laboratory wvhite mice.
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