Leptospira interrogans  and Leptospira kirschneri are the dominant Leptospira species causing human leptospirosis in Central Malaysia

Abstract

Background Leptospirosis, commonly known as rat-urine disease, is a global but endemic zoonotic disease in the tropics. Despite the historical report of leptospirosis in Malaysia, the information on human-infecting species is limited. Determining the circulating species is important to understand its epidemiology, thereby to strategize appropriate control measures through public health interventions, diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccine development. Methodology/Principle findings We investigated the human-infecting Leptospira species in blood and serum samples collected from clinically suspected leptospirosis patients admitted to three tertiary care hospitals in Malaysia. From a total of 165 patients, 92 (56%) were confirmed cases of leptospirosis through Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) (n = 43; 47%), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) (n = 63; 68%) or both MAT and PCR (n = 14; 15%). The infecting Leptospira spp., determined by partial 16S rDNA (rrs) gene sequencing revealed two pathogenic species namely Leptospira interrogans (n = 44, 70%) and Leptospira kirschneri (n = 17, 27%) and one intermediate species Leptospira wolffii (n = 2, 3%). Multilocus sequence typing (MLST) identified an isolate of L. interrogans as a novel sequence type (ST 265),

Predominance of Leptospira wolffii in north-central Bangladesh, 2019

“…Although positive cases were found in any month during the study period, more cases occurred in July, September and October. The overall detection rate of Leptospira was higher than that in our previous study in Bangladesh [ 5 ] but was comparable to that in Malaysia [ 7 ]. All patients were cured by administration of doxycycline and ceftriaxone for a 7- to 10-day period along with treatment of symptoms.…”

“…L. wolffii was detected sporadically from April to November, which may suggest that this species is persistently transmitted among the local population. L. wolffii has been classified as an intermediate species and is found in a wide area from South-East Asia to the Middle East as a minor pathogen of human leptospirosis which is also detected in animals and the environment [ [7] , [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] ]. Our study is the first to note the predominance of this species in human infection.…”

Combined PCR and MAT improves the early diagnosis of the biphasic illness leptospirosis

“…In Malaysia, leptospirosis has been reported as early as in the 1920s among civilians and military troops [ 4 ]. To date, at least 41,736 cases with 502 deaths have been recorded corresponding to an average of 16 cases per 100,000 population annually (data from Ministry of Health, Malaysia) [ 5 ]. Because of its global distribution, with greater incidence in resource-poor populations and countries, leptospirosis gains more attention [ 1 – 3 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Predictors of Severe Leptospirosis: A Multicentre Observational Study From Central Malaysia

“…The genes used to detect the presence of leptospires in blood and serum were lipL32 and 16S rDNA [17,18]. The samples positive by 16S rDNA were subjected to sequencing (MyTACG Bioscience Enterprise, Malaysia) to identify the infecting Leptospira species [1]. The serovars used for MAT assay comprised Australis, Autumnalis, Batavia, Canicola, Celledoni, Grippotyphosa, Hardjoprajitno, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Javanica, Pyrogenes, Tarrasovi, Djasiman, Patoc, Pomona (international serovars were obtained from World Health Organization, WHO) and IMR LEP 1; saprophyte, IMR LEP 115; saprophyte, IMR LEP 175; saprophyte, IMR LEP 803/11-Copenhageni, IMR LEP 27-Hardjobovis, IMR LEP 22-Lai (local serovars were obtained from the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [19,20].…”

“…Occasional outbreaks have been reported and are mainly associated with forest and water activities, ood and crowded living environment [1][2][3][4][5].…”