Typhoon-related Leptospirosis and Melioidosis, Taiwan, 2009

Su, Hsun-Pi

doi:10.3201/eid1707.101050

Cited by 41 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 2 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As the climate in Thailand is not much different from Taiwan's climate and leptospires survive well in subtropical and monsoonal tropical climates, a much higher prevalence of Leptospira infection in cats in Thailand was expected. Differences in prevalences between the two studies could be explained by the timepoint and region of sampling as well as by a natural disaster that occurred in Taiwan shortly before sampling (Chan et al., ; Su, Chan, & Chang, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leptospirainfection and shedding in cats in Thailand

Sprißler¹,

Jongwattanapisan

Luengyosluechakul

et al. 2019

Transbound Emerg Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Thailand, leptospirosis is considered an emerging disease in humans and animals. Many species can shed pathogenic Leptospira, including domestic cats (felis catus), which might be able to pose a risk to humans. There are no studies on Leptospira infections in cats in Thailand, but in other countries, it was demonstrated that cats can shed pathogenic Leptospira with high prevalences. The aims of this study were to evaluate whether outdoor cats in Thailand shed pathogenic Leptospira in their urine, and to determine antibody prevalence and risk factors associated with Leptospira infection. Two hundred and sixty outdoor cats were prospectively recruited. Urine samples were tested by real‐time PCR targeting the lipL32 gene of pathogenic Leptospira. Urine was additionally cultured for 6 months in Ellinghausen‐McCullough‐Johnson‐Harris medium to grow Leptospira. Antibodies against 24 serovars (Anhoa, Australis, Autumnalis, Ballum, Bataviae, Bratislava, Broomi, Canicola, Celledoni, Copenhageni, Coxi, Cynopteri, Djasiman, Grippotyphosa, Haemolytica, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Khorat, Paidja, Patoc, Pomona, Pyrogenes, Rachmati, Saxkoebing, Sejroe) belonging to 16 serogroups were determined using microscopic agglutination tests. Risk factors were analysed by Fisher's exact test. Urine samples of 2/260 cats (0.8%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1%–2.8%) were PCR‐positive, but none of the 260 urine samples were culture positive. Leptospira antibodies were detected in 14/260 cats (5.4%; 95% CI: 3.0%–8.6%) with titers ranging from 1:20 to 1:160 (serovars: Anhoa, Autumnalis, Celledoni, Copenhageni, Djasiman, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Patoc). Cats aged ≥4 years were significantly more often infected with Leptospira than younger cats. No other significant risk factors were found. In conclusion, outdoor cats in Thailand can shed DNA and, possibly, viable, pathogenic Leptospira in their urine, although at a much lower prevalence than expected when compared to countries with similar climate. Thus, cats can be a potential source of infection for people. Further studies are needed to determine the role of cats in transmitting this zoonotic disease in Thailand.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leptospirainfection and shedding in cats in Thailand

Sprißler¹,

Jongwattanapisan

Luengyosluechakul

et al. 2019

Transbound Emerg Dis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…15 Flooding and heavy rainfall have been associated with numerous outbreaks of leptospirosis from a wide-range of countries around the world. 15,21,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48] Areas at the highest risk for leptospirosis outbreaks are those where multiple risk factors are likely to coexist; such as, increased flooding Ahern et al 15 reviewed earlier studies addressing flood-associated outbreaks of leptospirosis from a wide-range of countries: Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, India, Korea, Mexico, Nicaragua, Portugal, and Puerto Rico. In 1997 in the Krasnodar Territory in Russia, a severe outbreak of leptospirosis took place in connection with a high flood.…”

Section: Water-bornementioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the relationship between infectious diseases and flooding in Europe

Brown

Murray

2013

Disaster Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction Many infectious diseases are sensitive to climatic changes; specifically, flooding. This systematic literature review aimed to strengthen the quality and completeness of evidence on infectious diseases following flooding, relevant to Europe.Methods A systematic literature review from 2004–2012 was performed. Focused searches of the following databases were conducted: Medline, Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Evidence Aid. Personal communications with key informants were also reviewed.Results Thirty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Evidence suggested that water-borne, rodent-borne, and vector-borne diseases have been associated with flooding in Europe, although at a lower incidence than developing countries.Conclusion Disease surveillance and early warning systems, coupled with effective prevention and response capabilities, can reduce current and future vulnerability to infectious diseases following flooding.

show abstract

“…Since 2004, LS has become a notifiable disease, and physicians are requested to report clinically suspected cases of LS to the Taiwan CDC and to send clinical specimens for laboratory confirmatory diagnosis. The mean annual incidence was 0.21/100,000 people from 2001 to 2006 (Chou, Chen, & Liu, ), and a typhoon‐related outbreak of LS and melioidosis in 2009 was reported (Su, Chan, & Chang, ). Both suggested an association between the amount of rainfall and incidence, but the case distribution and risk factors including occupation, animal exposure or possible association with other zoonoses were not mentioned.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The epidemiology, characteristics and outbreaks of human leptospirosis and the association with animals in Taiwan, 2007–2014: A nationwide database study

Tsai

Lin

Lee

et al. 2020

Zoonoses and Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Leptospirosis (LS) is a neglected tropical zoonosis of global importance.A nationwide investigation of characteristics, epidemiology, risk factors and outbreak is crucial for awareness of this disease. Methods: A nationwide database of reported LS cases from October 2007 toDecember 2014 obtained from the Centers for Disease Control, Taiwan, was analysed. Geographic information system software was used to map the distribution of confirmed LS cases and pigs. Cross-matching with the databases of Q fever, scrub typhus and murine typhus was conducted to identify possible coinfections.Results: A total of 10,917 reported cases of LS were recorded in the database, which included 665 (6.1%) confirmed LS and 10,252 (93.9%) non-confirmed LS cases. The major residences of confirmed LS were the Kaohsiung-Pingtung (248, 37.3%) and Taipei (174, 26.2%) regions. The average annual incidence was 0.4/100,000 people. Compared with non-confirmed LS cases, confirmed LS cases had significantly higher percentages of male gender (83.6% vs. 67.9%, p < .001), high-risk occupations (farmer, animal husbandry or veterinarian) (24.8% vs. 13.7%, p < .001), residence in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung region (37.3% vs. 19.6%, p < .001) and exposure to rats (8.6% vs. 4.9%, p = .001) or pigs (9.4% vs. 1.9%, p < .001) but a lower mean age (47.8 ± 15.1 vs. 51.±18.5 years old). Rat and pig exposure trends were found in the northern and southern regions, respectively.Distribution of LS was consistent with pigs, and one outbreak associated with flooding and pigs occurred in the Pingtung region in 2009. Twenty-three and four patients with LS were coinfected with scrub typhus and Q fever, respectively. Conclusions: LS is an endemic disease in Taiwan, particularly in the Kaohsiung-Pingtung and Taipei regions. High-risk occupations and animal exposure history are important for the clinical presumptive diagnosis of LS, particularly for rats in northern Taiwan and pigs in southern Taiwan. Although uncommon, clinicians should be aware of coinfection of LS with endemic rickettsial diseases. K E Y W O R D S database analysis, epidemiology, flood, Leptospirosis, outbreak, pigs, rats, rickettsioses, Taiwan | 157 TSAI eT Al.

show abstract

Typhoon-related Leptospirosis and Melioidosis, Taiwan, 2009

Cited by 41 publications

References 2 publications

Leptospirainfection and shedding in cats in Thailand

Leptospirainfection and shedding in cats in Thailand

Examining the relationship between infectious diseases and flooding in Europe

The epidemiology, characteristics and outbreaks of human leptospirosis and the association with animals in Taiwan, 2007–2014: A nationwide database study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About