Basic Aspects and Epidemiological Studies on Leptospirosis Carried Out in Animals in Chile: A Bibliographic Review

Abstract

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.

Molecular Epidemiology of Pathogenic Leptospira spp. Infecting Dogs in Latin America

“…In relation to the serogroup distribution, even though only half of the sequences had that information, strains of Icterohaemorrhagiae were by far the major agent of canine infection. In contrast, many serosurveys studies carried out in Latin America frequently reported the presence of strains of Canicola, Autumnalis, and Pomona besides Icterohaemorrhagiae [29,[35][36][37][38], and their real role in canine leptospirosis remains to be elucidated. On the other hand, the number of sequences recognized as the Canicola serogroup was surprisingly low since dogs are known to be the maintenance host of this serogroup [10].…”

“…A serosurvey in Colombia found Autumnalis and Canicola as the most prevalent serovars [35]. Still, seroprevalence studies in Chile reported the presence of Canicola, Pomona, and Autumnalis in both urban and rural areas [36,37]. Isolates were recovered from urine (n = 6), blood (n = 1), and fetus (n = 1) in Argentina.…”

Detection of Antibodies for Pathogenic Leptospira in Wild Mammals and Birds from Southern Chile—First Record of Seropositivity in a Guiña (Leopardus guigna)

“…Therefore, more research is needed to determine the role of wild animals in the epidemiology of leptospirosis [14]. According to a recent study in Chile, their prevalence is between 12.0% and 59.1%, between 3.0% and 25.2%, and between 23.3% and 65.4% in domestic animals such as dogs, domestic felines, and horses, respectively [39].…”

Pathological and molecular study of kidneys in apparently healthy cattle and sheep with special reference to Leptospira species in central and northern Jordan

“…Most published studies on small and large ruminant renal diseases have used serological, culture, pathological, and molecular diagnostic techniques, either separately or in combination, to assess the presence of Leptospira spp. [ 29 , 30 ]. Few reports have described the use of histopathological, culture, serological, and PCR tests to assess renal diseases.…”