A Serological Survey on Leptospiral Infection Among Wild Rats (Rattus rattus) of Ahvaz District, Southwest of Iran: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

Background:Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira which can infect both humans and animals. This disease is caused by various serovars of Leptospira interroganssensu lato infection. Rats are known to be one of the most important reservoirs and transmission sources of leptospirosis. However, the status of leptospirosis in wild rats has been unknown in many areas of Iran. Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the seroprevalence of leptospiral infection in wild rats (Rattus rattus) in Ahvaz district (southwest of Iran) from October 2009 to November 2011. Materials and Methods: Rats were trapped alive, anaesthetized, and blood-extracted by cardiac puncture. Serum samples were collected from 120 wild rats and screened for different leptospiral serovars using the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). The rats were classified according to sex, season and region of capture. The results were analyzed by Chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test. Results: From a total of 120 rats, 4 (3.33%) were serologically positive for the L. gryppotyphosa serovar. All positive titers were detected at 1:100 dilutions. Antibodies against more than one serovar were not detected in any sample. The prevalence of leptospiral infection was 2.5% and 0.83% in male and female rats, respectively. There was no significant difference in positive titer prevalence between different sexes, seasons and areas (P > 0.05). Conclusions: This survey indicated that serovars of L. gripotyphosa are prevalent in the rats population of this area and can be a source of infection for humans. The results of the present study provide useful information on the epidemiology of leptospirosis in this species, which was not well studied before.

Identification of cattle, buffaloes and rodents as reservoir animals of Leptospira in the District of Gampaha, Sri Lanka

“…Considering the similar ecological conditions found outside the District of Gampaha, we assume that this observation is also true outside the division. Our finding is consistent with several other reports that rodents present a reservoir host in most parts of the world [9, 11, 15, 19, 20]. …”

“…Rats are notorious reservoir hosts of leptospires but domestic and wild animals may be transient or persistent shedders of leptospires [9–11]. Unfortunately, people living in Sri Lanka have a poor level of knowledge around potential risk factors for leptospirosis [12].…”

Diversity ofLeptospiraspp. in Rats and Environment from Urban Areas of Sarawak, Malaysia

“…From the total 17 Leptospira positive rats, a greater number of female (64.7%) and adult (70.6%) rats were detected. This is contrary with the finding by Mosallanejad et al [ 23 ] who studied the seroprevalence of Leptospira in 120 wild rats in Iran. They reported that positive Leptospira was found in 2.5% male and 0.83% female rats.…”

“…The finding from previous researcher indicated that higher prevalence of Leptospira was detected in other animals such as cattle (53.8%), horse (27.9%), buffalo (58.7%), and donkey (40.0%) than in rats (3.3%) in Ahvaz, Iran. This is because those animals which live in groups near water may have additional access to the contaminated environment and stagnant water than rats [ 23 ].…”

Squirrels and Transmission of Leptospirosis: Awareness and Perception of the University of Ibadan Main Campus Residents, Nigeria

“…They are important reservoir hosts or carrier animals and their infection may be associated with varying degrees of renal disease (Dirsmith et al, 2013). Since leptospira have been detected in some species of squirrel (Montes Aliaga et al, 2011;Dirsmith et al, 2013;Gozzi et al, 2013;Mosallanejad et al, 2016), human transmission is therefore plausible being a zoonotic disease and also considering human-animal interaction. Very few data exist in the literature as regards the role of squirrels in the epidemiology of leptospirosis (Cilia et al, 2021) especially in developing countries like Nigeria (Ajayi et al, 2017) while very little or no information exists about the knowledge of squirrels as carrier animals for leptospirosis within the University of Ibadan.…”