INTRODUCTION Leptospirosis is an important world-wide zoonosis, caused by an infection with a pathogenic species of the genus Leptospira. These are highly motile obligate aerobic spirochetes that share features of both Gram-negative and Grampositive bacteria. Dark field or phase contrast microscopy is necessary to visualize these bacteria since they stain so poorly. This genus is classified tod...

An EcoRI fragment (1.2 kb) which is highly conserved among Leptospira interrogans isolated in Korea was cloned into pBluescript vector from L. interrogans serovar lai WH20. The EcoRI fragment was sequenced, and a pair of primers (LP1 and LP2) was designed for PCR assay. PCR amplification of target DNA obtained from cultured L. interrogans showed that 274 bp could be detected when as little as 1...

The life-threatening infections caused by Leptospira serovars demand the need for designing anti-leptospirosis drugs. The present study encompasses exploring inhibitors against phosphoheptose isomerase (GmhA) of Leptospira, which is vital for lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis and is identified as a common drug target through the subtractive genomic approach. GmhA model was built in Modeller...

To investigate the seroprevalence of leptospiral infection in sheep in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, bloodsamples were taken from 181 female sheep. Sera were stored at -20°C until use. They were initially screenedat serum dilution of 1:100 against six live antigens of Leptospira interrogans serovars pomona, canicola,hardjo, ballum, icterohaemorrhagiae, grippotyphosa using the microscopic agglutinat...

Leptospirosis in cattle is a worldwide problem associated with abortion, agalactia, still birth and infertility resulting in major economic losses to dairy industry. There is lack of data regarding seroprevalence of bovine leptospirosis in eastern India. So, with the aim to investigate the prevalence of the disease in Odisha and West Bengal state of eastern India, a total of 350 cattle serum sa...

Eighteen patients involved in a localized outbreak of leptospirosis were subjected to a serological follow-up study over a 5-year period. Four distinct sets of sera from all patients and a fifth sample obtained from 10 of them were examined by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) for demonstration of leptospiral antibodies. The test was carried out by using live leptospires from reference s...

Pathogenic Leptospira spp. shed in the urine of reservoir hosts into freshwater can be transmitted to a susceptible host through skin abrasions or mucous membranes causing leptospirosis. The infection process involves the ability of leptospires to adhere to cell surface and extracellular matrix components, a crucial step for dissemination and colonization of host tissues. Therefore, the elucida...

BACKGROUND Leptospirosis, a spirochaetal zoonotic disease, is the cause of epidemics associated with high mortality in urban slum communities. Infection with pathogenic Leptospira occurs during environmental exposures and is traditionally associated with occupational risk activities. However, slum inhabitants reside in close proximity to environmental sources of contamination, suggesting that t...

To assess the distribution of specific antibodies against Leptospira spp. in Austrian adults, we conducted an explorative nationwide cross-sectional serological study in 400 healthy individuals. Antibody titres against Leptospira spp. were determined in a microscopic agglutination test using a panel of 14 serovar cultures. Sera of 18 participants were excluded because the samples were unsuitabl...

Background As no current data are available on the prevalence of leptospiral infection in swine in Germany, we analysed laboratory data from diagnostic examinations carried out on samples from swine all over Germany from January 2011 to September 2016. A total of 29,829 swine sera were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) for antibodies against strains of eleven Leptospira serovars. ...