The Changing Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Israel

Travel-Related Leptospirosis in Israel: A Nationwide Study

“…This finding is a significant increase in the percentage of cases related to travel compared with 1 (1.7%) of 59 cases during 1985-1999 reported in a nationwide study of leptospirosis in Israel ( Figure 2 ). 9 During the study years, the proportion of travel-related cases continued to increasing, reaching 83% of the cases during the last year of the study ( Figure 2 ). Reports of leptospirosis mainly in the 1990s from Germany, the Netherlands, and Hawaii documented travel-related leptospirosis in 16%, 14%, and 6% of the cases, respectively.…”

“…Although the incidence of leptospirosis is steadily decreasing in developed countries, there is a re-emergence of the disease in tropical and subtropical regions. 1,9,[15][16][17][18][19][20] Factors attributed to the decrease in the incidence of leptospirosis in developed countries include improvement in sanitation, mechanization of agricultural methods, and prevention of occupational exposures at risk. At the same time, travel-related leptospirosis has been emerging as a major cause of infection in developed countries.…”

“…Leptospira serologic investigation is performed using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) method, in which antigens of 22 live Leptospira serovars are reacted with patient serum samples and agglutination is detected using darkfield microscopy (see Appendix 1 for a list of the serovars used 9 ). Each serovar used in this method represents a common Leptospira serogroup.…”

“…9,10 However, only one case of travel-related leptospirosis was reported in these pervious reports. Leptospirosis is gaining special attention with the increase in adventure travel and water-related activities.…”

Distribuição espacial da leptospirose no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil: recuperando a ecologia dos estudos ecológicos

“…O controle das condições de trabalho no cam- po reduziu a incidência de leptospirose em Israel. Atualmente o sorovar icterohemorrhagiae é dominante nas áreas urbanas e responsável pela maioria dos casos (Kariv et al, 2001 (Murhekar et al, 1998). A fauna componente de um ecossistema está relacionada a processos ecológicos, biológi-cos e evolutivos (Hansson, 2002).…”