Human Leptospirosis on Reunion Island, Indian Ocean: Are Rodents the (Only) Ones to Blame?

Guernier, Vanina; Lagadec, Erwan; Cordonin, Colette; Minter, Gildas Le; Gomard, Yann; Pagès, Frédéric; Jaffar‐Bandjee, Marie‐Christine; Michault, Alain; Tortosa, Pablo; Dellagi, Koussay

doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0004733

Cited by 56 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 60 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This region presents a low diversity of pathogenic Leptospira compared to continental countries, but a similar diversity as found in other tropical islands like New Caledonia (Pacific) [34] or Reunion Island (Indian Ocean) [29] where the same species, i.e. L .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Leptospira diversity in animals and humans in Tahiti, French Polynesia

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundLeptospirosis is a highly endemic bacterial zoonosis in French Polynesia (FP). Nevertheless, data on the epidemiology of leptospirosis in FP are scarce. We conducted molecular studies on Leptospira isolated from humans and the potential main animal reservoirs in order to identify the most likely sources for human infection.Methodology/Principal findingsWild rats (n = 113), farm pigs (n = 181) and domestic dogs (n = 4) were screened for Leptospira infection in Tahiti, the most populated island in FP. Positive samples were genotyped and compared to Leptospira isolated from human cases throughout FP (n = 51), using secY, 16S and LipL32 sequencing, and MLST analysis. Leptospira DNA was detected in 20.4% of rats and 26.5% of pigs. We identified two Leptospira species and three sequence types (STs) in animals and humans: Leptospira interrogans ST140 in pigs only and L. interrogans ST17 and Leptospira borgpetersenii ST149 in humans and rats. Overall, L. interrogans was the dominant species and grouped into four clades: one clade including a human case only, two clades including human cases and dogs, and one clade including human cases and rats. All except one pig sample showed a unique L. interrogans (secY) genotype distinct from those isolated from humans, rats and dogs. Moreover, LipL32 sequencing allowed the detection of an additional Leptospira genotype in pigs, clearly distinct from the previous ones.Conclusions/SignificanceOur data confirm rats as a major potential source for human leptospirosis in FP. By contrast to what was expected, farm pigs did not seem to be a major reservoir for the Leptospira genotypes identified in human patients. Thus, further investigations will be required to determine their significance in leptospirosis transmission in FP.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Leptospira diversity in animals and humans in Tahiti, French Polynesia

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These data show that although similar species could be isolated from human and rodents, they are genetically different. Furthermore, Leptospira could be shed by other mammals like dogs, bats, livestock; hence, the reservoirs discovery deserves further research [61][62][63][64][65].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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),

show abstract

“…infecting humans on Mayotte are diverse and belong to four bacterial species of which one, Leptospira mayottensis , was recently elevated to the rank of new species [9]. This situation clearly contrasts from that occurring on Reunion Island where Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira borgpetersenii are the only two species reported in human cases [8,21]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Tenrec ecaudatus, a Wild Mammal Introduced to Mayotte Island, as a Reservoir of the Newly Identified Human Pathogenic Leptospira mayottensis

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Leptospirosis is a bacterial zoonosis of major concern on tropical islands. Human populations on western Indian Ocean islands are strongly affected by the disease although each archipelago shows contrasting epidemiology. For instance, Mayotte, part of the Comoros Archipelago, differs from the other neighbouring islands by a high diversity of Leptospira species infecting humans that includes Leptospira mayottensis, a species thought to be unique to this island. Using bacterial culture, molecular detection and typing, the present study explored the wild and domestic local mammalian fauna for renal carriage of leptospires and addressed the genetic relationships of the infecting strains with local isolates obtained from acute human cases and with Leptospira strains hosted by mammal species endemic to nearby Madagascar. Tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus, Family Tenrecidae), a terrestrial mammal introduced from Madagascar, is identified as a reservoir of L. mayottensis. All isolated L. mayottensis sequence types form a monophyletic clade that includes Leptospira strains infecting humans and tenrecs on Mayotte, as well as two other Malagasy endemic tenrecid species of the genus Microgale. The lower diversity of L. mayottensis in tenrecs from Mayotte, compared to that occurring in Madagascar, suggests that L. mayottensis has indeed a Malagasy origin. This study also showed that introduced rats (Rattus rattus) and dogs are probably the main reservoirs of Leptospira borgpetersenii and Leptospira kirschneri, both bacteria being prevalent in local clinical cases. Data emphasize the epidemiological link between the two neighbouring islands and the role of introduced small mammals in shaping the local epidemiology of leptospirosis.

show abstract

Human Leptospirosis on Reunion Island, Indian Ocean: Are Rodents the (Only) Ones to Blame?

Cited by 56 publications

References 60 publications

Leptospira diversity in animals and humans in Tahiti, French Polynesia

Leptospira diversity in animals and humans in Tahiti, French Polynesia

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

Identification of Tenrec ecaudatus, a Wild Mammal Introduced to Mayotte Island, as a Reservoir of the Newly Identified Human Pathogenic Leptospira mayottensis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About