Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease affecting mostly the world's tropical regions. The rural people of northeastern Thailand suffer from a large number of leptospirosis infections, and their abundant rice fields are optimal rodent habitats. To evaluate the contribution of diversity and carriage rate of pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> in rodent reservoirs to leptospirosis incidence, we surveyed rodents, between 2011 and 2012, in four provinces in northeastern Thailand with the highest incidence rates of human leptospirosis cases. We used <i>lipL32</i> real-time PCR to detect pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> in rodent kidneys, partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing to classify the infecting <i>Leptospira</i> species, and whole 16S rDNA sequencing to classify species of isolated <i>Leptospira</i>. Overall prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> infection was 3.6% (18/495). Among infected rodents, <i>Bandicota</i><i>indica</i> (14.3%), <i>Rattus</i><i>exulans</i> (3.6%), and <i>R</i>. <i>rattus</i> (3.2%) had renal carriage. We identified two pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> species: <i>L</i>. <i>interrogans</i> (<i>n</i> = 15) and <i>L</i>. <i>borgpetersenii</i> (<i>n</i> = 3). In addition, an <i>L</i>. <i>wolffii</i> (LS0914U) isolate was recovered from the urine of <i>B</i>. <i>indica</i>. <i>Leptospira</i> infection was more prevalent in low density rodent populations, such as <i>B</i>. <i>indica</i>. In contrast, there was a lower prevalence of <i>Leptospira</i> infection in high density rodent populations of <i>R</i>. <i>exulans</i> and <i>R</i>. <i>rattus</i>.

Original publication

DOI

10.3390/tropicalmed5040154

Type

Journal article

Journal

Tropical medicine and infectious disease

Publication Date

30/09/2020

Volume

5

Addresses

Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok 10400, Thailand.