Leptospira biflexa is a free-living saprophytic spirochete present in aquatic environments. We determined the genome sequence of L. biflexa, making it the first saprophytic Leptospira to be sequenced. The L. biflexa genome has 3,590 protein-coding genes distributed across three circular replicons: the major 3,604 chromosome, a smaller 278-kb replicon that also carries essential genes, and a thi...

The prevalence of leptospirosis is generally high in domestic animals and rodents in Tanzania. Identification of Leptospira isolates from cattle was carried out to establish prevalent Leptospira serovars. Serological typing was done based on monoclonal antibodies and the standard cross-agglutination absorption test. Molecular typing involved pathogenic- and saprophytic-specific PCRs and a PCR s...

BACKGROUND Although leptospirosis is a zoonosis of major concern on tropical islands, the molecular epidemiology of the disease aiming at linking human cases to specific animal reservoirs has been rarely explored within these peculiar ecosystems. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Five species of wild small mammals (n = 995) as well as domestic animals (n = 101) were screened for Leptospira infec...

BACKGROUND Leptospirosis has become an urban health problem as slum settlements have expanded worldwide. Efforts to identify interventions for urban leptospirosis have been hampered by the lack of population-based information on Leptospira transmission determinants. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of Leptospira infection and identify risk factors for infection in the urban s...

As part of a prospective study of leptospirosis and biodiversity of Leptospira in the Peruvian Amazon, a new Leptospira species was isolated from humans with acute febrile illness. Field trapping identified this leptospire in peridomestic rats (Rattus norvegicus, six isolates; R. rattus, two isolates) obtained in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas of the Iquitos region. Novelty of this species ...

Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonosis caused by Leptospira interrogans, a pathogen transmitted by asymptomatic infected rodents. Leptospiral lipoproteins and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) have been shown to stimulate murine cells via Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 2 and 4. Host defense mechanisms remain obscure, although TLR4 has been associated with clearing Leptospira. In a recent study, we showed th...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Leptospira, the causal agent of leptospirosis, has been isolated from the environment, patients, and wide spectrum of animals in Russia. However, the genetic diversity of Leptospira in natural and anthropurgic foci was not clearly defined. METHODS The recent MLST scheme was used for the analysis of seven pathogenic species. 454 pyrosequencing technology was the base of the ...

The maintenance of Leptospira species in liquid or semisolid medium is time-consuming and at risk of contamination due to the needs of routine subculture and dark field microscopy. Using Leptospira Vanaporn Wuthiekanun (LVW) agar, we maintained 100 pathogenic Leptospira isolates for 12 months without the need for subculture and confirmed the viability of all isolates by the naked eye.

The effects of the exposure of the bacterium, Leptospira interrogans serovar canicola to a constant magnetic field with magnetic flux density from a permanent ferrite magnet=140+/-5 mT were studied. Changes in Leptospira cells after their exposure to the field were determined on the basis of changes in their growth behavior and agglutination immunoreactivity with a homologous antiserum using da...

Leptospirosis is a neglected emerging infectious disease with high burden in Africa. Major reservoirs of leptospirosis are rodents and other small mammals. Studies of leptospirosis in bats and the extent to which they contribute to its transmission to humans and domestic animals in Tanzania are lacking. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of leptospirosis and local Lepto...