Genetic Evidence for a Potential Environmental Pathway to Spillover Infection of Rat-Borne Leptospirosis.

Casanovas-Massana, Arnau, de Oliveira, Daiana, Schneider, Andrew G, Begon, Mike ORCID: 0000-0003-1715-5327, Childs, James E, Costa, Federico, Reis, Mitermayer G, Ko, Albert I ORCID: 0000-0001-9023-2339 and Wunder, Elsio A ORCID: 0000-0002-5239-8511 (2022) Genetic Evidence for a Potential Environmental Pathway to Spillover Infection of Rat-Borne Leptospirosis. The Journal of infectious diseases, 225 (1). pp. 130-134.

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Abstract

In this study, we genotyped samples from environmental reservoirs (surface water and soil), colonized rat specimens, and cases of human severe leptospirosis from an endemic urban slum in Brazil, to determine the molecular epidemiology of pathogenic Leptospira and identify pathways of leptospirosis infection. We identified a well-established population of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni common to human leptospirosis cases, and animal and environmental reservoirs. This finding provides genetic evidence for a potential environmental spillover pathway for rat-borne leptospirosis through the environment in this urban community and highlights the importance of environmental and social interventions to reduce spillover infections.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Animals, Humans, Rats, Leptospira, Leptospira interrogans, Leptospirosis, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Soil Microbiology, Water Microbiology, Environment, Phylogeny, Brazil, Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis, Molecular Epidemiology
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	31 May 2022 13:32
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2023 21:00
DOI:	10.1093/infdis/jiab323
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3155608