INTRODUCTION Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease transmitted directly or indirectly from animals to humans that may result in severe hemorrhagic, hepatic/renal and pulmonary disease. There are 20 known Leptospira species and hundreds of serovars, some of which belong to different species. It is essential to identify pathogenic Leptospira serovars and their potential reservoirs to prepare adequ...

BACKGROUND Equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) is a common cause of ocular pain and blindness in horses. Leptospira spp. have been commonly implicated in the pathophysiology of ERU in mainland Europe and the USA. No recent studies have been carried out in the UK, but Leptospira is reported not to be a major factor in the aetiology of ERU in the UK. OBJECTIVES To establish the prevalence of Leptosp...

BACKGROUND The seroepidemiology of Leptospira infection in workers occupationally exposed to raw meat has been poorly studied. This work aimed to determine the association between Leptospira exposure and the occupation of meat worker, and to determine the seroprevalence association with socio-demographic, work, clinical and behavioral characteristics of the meat workers studied. METHODS We pe...

Our objective was to identify local animal reservoirs of leptospirosis to explain the unusual features of Leptospira strains recently described among patients on the island of Mayotte. By means of a microscopic agglutination test using local clinical isolates, we found that 11.2% of black rats were seropositive to Leptospira, whereas 10.2% of flying foxes, 2% of lemurs, 93.1% of domestic dogs, ...

By the inoculation of guinea pigs intraperitoneally with the emulsions of kidneys from wild rats and mice captured in Guayaquil, it was found that 67 per cent of the wild rats tested harbored in their kidneys a leptospira which produced in guinea pigs symptoms and lesions identical with those produced by Leptospira icterohamorrhagia derived either from patients suffering from infectious jaundic...

Floodwater samples (N = 110) collected during the 2011 Bangkok floods were tested for Leptospira using culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR); 65 samples were PCR-positive for putatively non-pathogenic Leptospira species, 1 sample contained a putatively pathogenic Leptospira, and 6 samples contained Leptospira clustering phylogenetically with the intermediate group. The low prevalence of p...

Leptospirosis, caused by spirochetes of the genus Leptospira, is a globally widespread, neglected and emerging zoonotic disease. While whole genome analysis of individual pathogenic, intermediately pathogenic and saprophytic Leptospira species has been reported, comprehensive cross-species genomic comparison of all known species of infectious and non-infectious Leptospira, with the goal of iden...

Cattle are the reservoir hosts of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo, and can also be reservoir hosts of other Leptospira species such as L. kirschneri, and Leptospira interrogans. As a reservoir host, cattle shed Leptospira, infecting other animals, including humans. Previous studies with human and murine neutrophils have shown activation of neutrophil extracellular trap or NET formation...

The magnitude of Leptospira exposure in rural Mexico is largely unknown. We sought to determine the seroprevalence of Leptospira IgG antibodies in adults in rural Durango, Mexico, and to determine the sociodemographic, behavioral, and housing characteristics of the subjects associated with Leptospira seropositivity. We performed a cross-sectional study in 282 adults living in rural Durango, Mex...

Leptospirosis is a worldwide deadly zoonotic disease. Accurate identification of the causative Leptospira spp. spirochetes ascertains the pathogenic status of the isolates, identifies potential source of infection and recognises outbreaks. Species identification is currently based on technically demanding, time and resources consuming serological and molecular methods. Matrix-assisted laser des...