Hedgehogs and Mustelid Species: Major Carriers of Pathogenic Leptospira, a Survey in 28 Animal Species in France (20122015)

Abstract

Human leptospirosis is a zoonotic and potentially fatal disease that has increasingly been reported in both developing and developed countries, including France. However, our understanding of the basic aspects of the epidemiology of this disease, including the source of Leptospira serogroup Australis infections in humans and domestic animals, remains incomplete. We investigated the genetic diversity of Leptospira in 28 species of wildlife other than rats using variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) and multispacer sequence typing (MST). The DNA of pathogenic Leptospira was detected in the kidney tissues of 201 individuals out of 3,738 tested individuals. A wide diversity, including 50 VNTR profiles and 8 MST profiles, was observed. Hedgehogs and mustelid species had the highest risk of being infected (logistic regression, OR = 66.8, CI95% = 30.9–144 and OR = 16.7, CI95% = 8.7–31.8, respectively). Almost all genetic profiles obtained from the hedgehogs were related to Leptospira interrogans Australis, suggesting the latter as a host-adapted bacterium, whereas mustelid species were infected by various genotypes, suggesting their interaction with Leptospira was different. By providing an inventory of the circulating strains of Leptospira and by pointing to hedgehogs as a potential reservoir of L. interrogans Australis, our study advances current knowledge on Leptospira animal carriers, and this information could serve to enhance epidemiological investigations in the future.

PathogenicLeptospiraspecies are widely disseminated among small mammals in Atlantic Forest biome

“…Ayral et al. () recommended a combination of PCR and rrs gene typing to improve outcomes of prevalence studies in wild animals, and in the present study that approach could successfully demonstrate the variability of circulating species among Atlantic Forest mammals.…”

“…There are scarce reports on leptospiral characterization from wildlife. In Europe, the circulating species are L. interrogans , L. kirschneri and L. borgpetersenii (Arent, Gilmore, San‐Miguel Ayanz, Neyra, & García‐Peña, ; Ayral et al., ; Fischer et al., ; Obiegala et al., ), and a recent study in Brazil reported L. interrogans , L. santarosai and L. borgpertesenii (Fornazari et al., ). To our knowledge, L. noguchii strains had never been reported on wildlife.…”

“…In a recent review, Vieira, Pinto, and Lilenbaum () highlighted the need to understand the role of wildlife on the epidemiology of leptospirosis and its impact on livestock and public health, especially regarding direct detection and molecular characterization of the agent. It has increasingly been conducted in other countries, as Germany (Fischer et al., ; Obiegala et al., ), regions of Africa (Dietrich et al., ), France (Ayral et al., ), Chile (Correa, Bucarey, Cattan, Landaeta‐Aqueveque, & Ramírez‐Estrada, ) and Argentina (Lovera et al., ). In this context, and considering the One health approach, the purpose of the present study was to detect wild animals from Atlantic Forest biome that might be acting as carriers of Leptospira spp.…”

Leptospirosis, one neglected disease in rural Senegal

“…The presence of an amplifiat of between 300 and 400 bp on 1.5% agarose gel after migration is considered a positive signal. This method has been validly used in previous studies to explore the renal carrier state in a very large variety of wildlife mammals (Ayral et al ).…”

“…According to observations recorded in the French Leptospira laboratory in Lyon, titres higher than 1:100 have been considered positive for humans and all animal species. This method has been validly used in previous studies to explore the renal carrier state in a very large variety of wildlife mammals (Ayral et al 2016).…”