Evidence of Leptospira sp. infection among a diversity of African wildlife species: beyond the usual suspects

Jobbins, Sarah E.; Alexander, Kathleen A.

doi:10.1093/trstmh/trv007

Cited by 45 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Many domestic and wild mammals have been found to be either natural reservoirs or accidental hosts for several serotypes of Leptospira spp. However, non-mammalian animals such as those belonging to the herpetofauna (Andrews et al, 1965;Jobbins and Alexander, 2015) may play a role as reservoir hosts when considering the epidemiology (Glosser et al, 1974), transmission and persistence of Leptospira spp. (Jobbins and Alexander, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detection of Leptospira spp. in wild Phrynops geoffroanus (Geoffroy’s side-necked turtle) in urban environment

et al. 2016

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Leptospira spp., a zoonotic agent relevant for public health, occurs frequently in tropical regions. The aquatic environment represents a viable survival and transmission pathway. This study aimed to investigate the presence of anti-Leptospira spp. antibodies in Phrynops geoffroanus (Geoffroy's side-necked turtle) serum samples using the microagglutination test (MAT), and Leptospira spp. in gastric and cloacal lavage samples using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Antibodies against nine different Leptospira spp. serovars were detected in 45.45% (30/66) of the serum samples. Specific amplification of Leptospira spp. genomic material (331bp) was observed in 16.67% (11/66) of the samples. In conclusion, these freshwater testudines host Leptospira spp. and eliminate them. This situation may represent a risk to public health, especially to people who use urban streams for fishing and recreational activities. Additionally, we described some Leptospira spp. serovars, not yet reported in testudines, detected here in P. geoffroanus.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another sensitive and reliable diagnostic method for the detection of Leptospira spp. is polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Acha and Szyfres, 2001), which has been successfully applied in reptiles' samples (Biscola et al, 2011;Jobbins and Alexander, 2015;Mitchell et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Leptospira spp. in wild Phrynops geoffroanus (Geoffroy’s side-necked turtle) in urban environment

et al. 2016

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“…In Africa, a wild Crotaphopeltis hotamboeia was positive for Leptospira spp. from PCR samples of kidney tissue [18]. The findings from the current study represent the first time Leptospira spp.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) as a reservoir for Leptospira spp

Rockwell

Thompson

Maddox

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Leptospira spp. are re-emerging zoonotic pathogens. Previous research has found that Blanding's turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) experimentally infected with Leptospira interrogans shed leptospires in their urine, suggesting that they could play a role in transmitting pathogen within an aquatic ecosystem. This study investigated whether a population of wild Blanding's turtles known to be exposed to Leptospira spp. actively shed the pathogen under natural conditions. Blood samples were collected for serologic testing and to assess the health of the turtles. Free catch urine was collected for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. All turtles were seropositive for Leptospira spp. and 73.5% (25/34) of the urine samples were PCR positive. All animals appeared clinically healthy and showed no apparent signs of disease. This study confirms that wild Blanding's turtles can actively shed Leptospira spp. in their urine and suggests that they may play a role in the epidemiology of this disease in habitats in which they reside.

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“…These same dynamics may also influence the transmission of other infectious diseases that are transmitted through olfactory secretions, for example, pathogenic Leptospira sp., which is transmitted through urine. This pathogen was found in the kidneys of nearly half of the sampled mongooses in our study site (Jobbins and Alexander, 2015). Likewise, Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) are endemically infected with Mycobacterium bovis, and like mongooses, this species uses both feces and anal gland secretions in territorial defense (Roper et al, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Behavior - Landscape Interactions May Create Super-Spreader Environments: Vigilance-Olfactory Interactions Across Land Type and Disease Transmission Potential in the Banded Mongoose

Alexander

Nichols

2020

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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A complex suite of drivers can influence infectious disease transmission with behavior and landscape spatial dynamics contributing importantly to epidemic patterns across host-pathogen-environmental systems. However, our understanding of the interaction between landscape and host behavior and its influence on spatial variability in pathogen transmission is limited. In the banded mongoose (Mungos mungo), a novel tuberculosis pathogen, Mycobacterium mungi, has emerged in Northern Botswana, which is transmitted through olfactory communication behaviors. We evaluated how associations between landscape type and mongoose behaviors affect the frequency of olfactory communication behaviors and pathogen transmission potential. We used remote sensing camera traps at den sites to eliminate observer influence across human-modified and natural landscapes (n = 18 troops, 18,229 detections of banded mongooses from 7,497 photographs). Using generalized linear mixed models, we identified a significant effect of vigilance and the interactions between vigilance and landscape, and vigilance and troop count on the frequency of olfactory behaviors. Troop count-vigilance interactions had a negative influence on olfactory communication. Vigilance, however, appeared to have a bidirectional association with olfactory communication depending on land type. In lodge areas, vigilance was associated with increased olfactory behaviors, but in landscapes with expected increases in predation risk (i.e., national park and urban land-use areas), vigilance had a negative association with olfactory behaviors. The interaction between behavior and landscape type may have the potential to create "super-spreading" environments, or transmission hotspots, where behavior-landscape interactions increase pathogen shedding and transmission potential.

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Evidence of Leptospira sp. infection among a diversity of African wildlife species: beyond the usual suspects

Abstract: Leptospiral surveillance is often limited to the usual suspects: rodents and domestic animals. We identify Leptospira in a wide range of African wildlife, suggesting that leptospirosis transmission and persistence may also involve hosts not normally considered.

Cited by 45 publications

References 6 publications

Detection of Leptospira spp. in wild Phrynops geoffroanus (Geoffroy’s side-necked turtle) in urban environment

Detection of Leptospira spp. in wild Phrynops geoffroanus (Geoffroy’s side-necked turtle) in urban environment

Blanding’s turtles (Emydoidea blandingii) as a reservoir for Leptospira spp

Behavior - Landscape Interactions May Create Super-Spreader Environments: Vigilance-Olfactory Interactions Across Land Type and Disease Transmission Potential in the Banded Mongoose

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