Epizootiological survey of small mammals as Leptospira spp. reservoirs in Eastern Croatia

Majetić, Zrinka Štritof; Galloway, Renee L.; Sabljić, Eva Ružić; Milas, Zoran; Perko, Vesna Mojčec; Habuš, Josipa; Margaletić, Josip; Pernar, Renata; Turk, Nenad

doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2013.12.009

Cited by 29 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…have previously been implicated as reservoirs of Leptospira in Croatia. 32,33 Consistent with this earlier work, we found that 49 of 52 Leptospira-positive rodents represented Apodemus spp. Bacterial isolation from kidney tissue was successful in 40 PCR-positive rodents, and speciation assays indicated that 22 were L. interrogans, 16 L. kirschneri, and two Leptospira borgpetersenii.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

“…41 Leptospira interrogans, L. kirschneri, and L. borgpetersenii were identified as the Leptospira species in our study, similar to previous reports from Croatian rodents. 32,33 Hantavirus and Leptospira also represented the most frequent coinfections. We previously showed coinfections with both agents in humans 10 and rodents 41,42 highlighting the potential risk for simultaneous transmission of these pathogens.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular Survey of Zoonotic Agents in Rodents and Other Small Mammals in Croatia

Tadin¹,

Tokarz²,

Markotić³

et al. 2016

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Abstract. Croatia is a focus for many rodent-borne zoonosis. Here, we report a survey of 242 rodents and small mammals, including 43 Myodes glareolus, 131 Apodemus flavicollis, 53 Apodemus agrarius, three Apodemus sylvaticus, six Sorex araneus, four Microtus arvalis, one Microtus agrestis, and one Muscardinus avellanarius, collected at eight sites in Croatia over an 8-year period. Multiplex MassTag polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used for detection of Borrelia, Rickettsia, Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Francisella tularensis, and Coxiella burnetii. Individual PCR assays were used for detection of Leptospira, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, orthopoxviruses, flaviviruses, hantaviruses, and Toxoplasma gondii. Of the rodents, 52 (21.5%) were infected with Leptospira, 9 (3.7%) with Borrelia miyamotoi, 5 (2%) with Borrelia afzelii, 29 (12.0%) with Bartonella, 8 (3.3%) with Babesia microti, 2 (0.8%) with Ehrlichia, 4 (1.7%) with Anaplasma, 2 (0.8%) with F. tularensis, 43 (17.8%) with hantaviruses, and 1 (0.4%) with an orthopoxvirus. Other agents were not detected. Multiple infections were found in 32 rodents (13.2%): dual infections in 26 rodents (10.7%), triple infections in four rodents (2.9%), and quadruple infections in two rodents (0.8%). Our findings indicate that rodents in Croatia harbor a wide range of bacteria and viruses that are pathogenic to humans.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Survey of Zoonotic Agents in Rodents and Other Small Mammals in Croatia

Tadin¹,

Tokarz²,

Markotić³

et al. 2016

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…ST (7LBoonsilp) 24 isolates were found associated with hedgehog and mouse (in Czech Republic) and human (in Germany) hosts (Boonsilp et al, ). These ST (7LBoonsilp) 24 isolates were also suspected of causing the death of beavers in south‐west Germany (Woll, Karnath, Pfeffer, & Allgower, ) and were among the most common isolates collected from small mammals in Eastern Croatia (Stritof Majetic et al, ). The hedgehog ( Erinaceus europaeus ) has been recognized for many years as the maintenance host for Bratislava (Sebek & Rosicky, ), but in the last decades, an increasing infection of Bratislava serovar has been observed in several free‐living and domestic species, namely in Europe (Arent, Gilmore, Brem, & Ellis, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic diversity of pathogenic leptospires from wild, domestic and captive host species in Portugal

Ferreira

Ahmed

Rocha

et al. 2019

Transbound Emerg Dis

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Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease of worldwide distribution with a significant veterinary and public health impact. It is caused by pathogenic bacteria of the genus Leptospira. The availability of effective tools to accurately identify and type leptospires is of utmost importance for the diagnosis of the disease and for assessing its epidemiology. Several multi‐locus sequence typing (MLST) approaches were described for the typing of worldwide isolates of Leptospira but an extensive agreement towards the adoption of a unique consensus scheme for this agent is still lacking. Most genotyped strains originate from Asian and South American countries, with a minority originating from Europe (being most countries represented only by one or a few isolates). The knowledge of the diversity of circulating leptospires is the key to understanding the disease transmission and its zoonotic implications. In this study, we revisited the taxonomy of several isolates of pathogenic Leptospira obtained from domestic, wild and captive animals in Portugal, between 1990 and 2012. A selection of these isolates was genotyped using two previously published MLST schemes. A total of seven distinct sequence types (STs) were detected among the Portuguese isolates with two STs representing L. borgpetersenii (ST149 and ST152), two STs representing L. kirschneri (ST117 and ST100) and three STs representing L. interrogans (ST17, ST24 and ST140). Global widespread (and maybe more virulent) Leptospira genotypes seem to circulate in Portugal, particularly the L. interrogans ST17 isolates which are associated with several outbreaks of leptospirosis among humans and animals in different regions of the world. This study contributes to the enrichment of the global MLST databases with a new set of allele and sequence type information also providing novel data on circulating Leptospira serovars in Portugal.

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“…Studies conducted in Croatia showed that 7.0% to 29.9% of small rodents carried Leptospira (Majetić et al 2014). In the Czech Republic, serological studies of 4634 samples from wild mammals found 12% positive, and of these, 99% had antibodies against serovars belonging to Grippotyphosa serogroup.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leptospirosis in Zakarpattia Oblast (2005–2015)

Markovych

Tymchyk

Kolesnikova

2019

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

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Background: Leptospirosis occurs sporadically and as outbreaks throughout Ukraine and is a nationally reportable disease. Zakarpattia oblast, in the southwestern region of the country, is endemic for disease. This study examines changes in epidemic patterns from 2005 to 2015. Materials and Methods: Suspected cases from health care services were identified based on clinical presentation and serological samples were collected. Patient sera were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) against serovars of Leptospira spp. belonging to 13 serogroups. Small mammals were also collected, sampled, and tested near locations of suspected exposures. Changes in leptospirosis incidence in Zakarpattia oblast were characterized over an 11-year period. Results: A total of 420/2079 possible human cases were identified as having leptospirosis and 401/420 were confirmed by MAT. There was no annual trend in prevalence. Incidence increased from 2005 to 2009, peaked in 2010 (6.24 cases/100,000), and by 2015, there were only sporadic cases (0.88/100,000). The predominant serogroups were Icterohaemorrhagiae, Hebdomadis, and Grippotyphosa of Leptospira spp. The dominant serogroups shifted during the study from predominantly Icterohaemorrhagiae to Grippotyphosa in later years. A total of 2820 small mammals were assayed for Leptospira spp. Apodemus agrarius , Rattus norvegicus , and Mus musculus were the most common species sampled (76.1% of all captures). Among small mammals, antibodies were found mostly for Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, and Grippotyphosa serogroups, and were detected in 276 samples (9.79% ± 0.56%). The dominant serogroups of Leptospira spp. isolated from mammals and patients changed cyclically, but the common human serogroups tended to differ from that seen in the concurrent mammal populations. Conclusions: Patients with leptospirosis in this endemic region decreased more than fivefold during the past decade. Leptospira infections in small mammals remained common across multiple species ranging from 5% to 14%.

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Epizootiological survey of small mammals as Leptospira spp. reservoirs in Eastern Croatia

Cited by 29 publications

References 30 publications

Molecular Survey of Zoonotic Agents in Rodents and Other Small Mammals in Croatia

Molecular Survey of Zoonotic Agents in Rodents and Other Small Mammals in Croatia

Genetic diversity of pathogenic leptospires from wild, domestic and captive host species in Portugal

Leptospirosis in Zakarpattia Oblast (2005–2015)

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