Simple SummaryAlthough Leptospira infection occurs in domestic cat populations, studies on leptospirosis are very limited in felines and the role of cats in the epidemiology of this zoonosis has not received much attention. The present work is an epidemiologic study intended to determine the prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies and risk factors related with the seropositivity in cats from urban and rural environments. A higher prevalence in rural cats was detected (25.2%) compared with urban animals (1.8%). Characteristics of the habitat of the animals and some agricultural activities performed by cat’s owners were found to be risk factors associated with the seropositivity.AbstractLeptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease of worldwide distribution. A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban and rural environments in southern Chile (1) to detect domestic cats with serologic evidence of exposure to Leptospira spp.; (2) to determine the prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies; (3) to describe seroprevalences according to different characteristics of the animals, and (4) to identify risk factors associated with the seropositivity in the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). Blood samples were taken from 124 owned cats. A frequentist and Bayesian approach were applied for prevalence estimation. The overall apparent prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies was 8.1% (95% Confident Interval = 3.9–4.3). With the Bayesian approach, the overall True Prevalence (TP) was 5.2% (95% Credibility Interval (CrI) = 0.6–12.4). The TP for urban cats was 1.8% (95% CrI = 0.1–7.2) and the TP for rural felines was 25.2% (95% CrI = 9.3–46.6). Cats that live in a place where agricultural activities are performed with water that flows in streams or backwater and cats that live in places near flooded areas had a higher risk of seropositivity in MAT. The exposure to Leptospira spp. in domestic cats of urban and rural origin in Southern Chile is a public health concern that requires an increased awareness and the implementation of preventive measures.

Factors related with leptospirosis in domestic dogs have been reported worldwide. The aims of this study were to identify factors associated with this disease described in different observational studies and to combine the coinciding factors in at least four studies using meta-analyses, to obtain a pooled odds ratio (OR) as measure of infection risk. A literature search was performed in electronic databases, electronic databases of specific journals and search engines to find studies published in English, Spanish and Portuguese available from January 1960 to January 2015. Two hundred and eighteen factors were identified in 31 publications including cross-sectional and case-control studies. Finally, independent meta-analyses were performed with six different variables, which included between 4 and 8 articles. The pooled OR indicated that the variables 'mixed-breed dogs', 'flooding occurrence in the habitat of the dog' and 'working dogs' were risk factors for leptospirosis, while 'being a dog less than 1 year old' was a protective factor; however, all these associations were not statistically significant. Otherwise, the variables 'male dog' and 'urban dog' were statistically significant risk factors for infection. This study highlights the need for more formal studies on the epidemiology of canine leptospirosis. Nevertheless, the study revealed that some risk factors for infection coincided in different observational studies. These factors could be considered to raise suspicion about the disease, especially when there is a history of exposure to the bacteria.

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Leptospirosis is an important zoonosis worldwide. This disease affects numerous animal species, some of them are classified as “maintenance hosts”, and others are categorized as “incidental hosts”. Humans are at risk of becoming infected by having contact with domestic and wild animals. In this paper, general aspects of the etiology and transmission of leptospirosis are addressed, data regarding the clinical presentation of the pathology in humans and animals are also presented, and the results of some epidemiological studies on leptospirosis carried out in Chile in different animal species and humans are summarized through a bibliographic review of the literature. The research on domestic canines and horses stands out in terms of their number in the country, with prevalences between 12.0% and 59.1% in dogs and from 23.3% to 65.4% in equids. Studies have been performed on domestic felines in recent years with frequencies ranging from 3.0% to 25.2%, as well as on wild animals (mainly in mammals). In pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats, the information is scarce, with little updated research dating back several decades and variable prevalence rates, which are generally high, except for in sheep. Leptospirosis is a disease of varied etiology in terms of infecting species, serovars and serogroups, which influences its epidemiology, and its prevalence is variable in different animals. An increase in the awareness given to this pathology in human and veterinary public health is required, as well as more scientific studies in Chile, to update the existing knowledge.