Cargando…

Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia

Leptospirosis is an emerging disease among people and dogs in Sydney, Australia. However, the routes of Leptospira transmission in these cases, and in particular the possible role of rats as reservoirs of infection in Sydney, are unknown. Rats were collected within the City of Sydney Council area an...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bedoya-Pérez, Miguel A., Westman, Mark E., Loomes, Max, Chung, Nga Yee Natalie, Knobel, Benjamin, Ward, Michael P.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10383884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37512903
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071731
_version_ 1785081020715892736
author Bedoya-Pérez, Miguel A.
Westman, Mark E.
Loomes, Max
Chung, Nga Yee Natalie
Knobel, Benjamin
Ward, Michael P.
author_facet Bedoya-Pérez, Miguel A.
Westman, Mark E.
Loomes, Max
Chung, Nga Yee Natalie
Knobel, Benjamin
Ward, Michael P.
author_sort Bedoya-Pérez, Miguel A.
collection PubMed
description Leptospirosis is an emerging disease among people and dogs in Sydney, Australia. However, the routes of Leptospira transmission in these cases, and in particular the possible role of rats as reservoirs of infection in Sydney, are unknown. Rats were collected within the City of Sydney Council area and their kidneys were tested for pathogenic Leptospira DNA by real-time (q)PCR. A subset of rats also had qPCR testing performed on whole blood and urine, and Microscopic Agglutination Testing (MAT) that included a panel of 10 Leptospira serovars from nine different Leptospira serogroups was performed on a subset of serum samples. Based on qPCR testing, the proportion of rats with Leptospira DNA in their kidneys was 9/111 (8.1%). qPCR testing of blood samples (n = 9) and urine (n = 4) was negative. None of the 10 serum samples tested MAT positive. A primary cluster of qPCR-positive locations was detected based on six infected rats, which partially overlapped with a previously identified cluster of canine leptospirosis cases in Sydney. These findings suggest that rats in Sydney might play a role in the transmission of leptospirosis to dogs and people. Further testing of rats in Sydney and investigation into other possible wildlife reservoirs of infection and environmental sources of leptospires are needed.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10383884
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-103838842023-07-30 Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia Bedoya-Pérez, Miguel A. Westman, Mark E. Loomes, Max Chung, Nga Yee Natalie Knobel, Benjamin Ward, Michael P. Microorganisms Article Leptospirosis is an emerging disease among people and dogs in Sydney, Australia. However, the routes of Leptospira transmission in these cases, and in particular the possible role of rats as reservoirs of infection in Sydney, are unknown. Rats were collected within the City of Sydney Council area and their kidneys were tested for pathogenic Leptospira DNA by real-time (q)PCR. A subset of rats also had qPCR testing performed on whole blood and urine, and Microscopic Agglutination Testing (MAT) that included a panel of 10 Leptospira serovars from nine different Leptospira serogroups was performed on a subset of serum samples. Based on qPCR testing, the proportion of rats with Leptospira DNA in their kidneys was 9/111 (8.1%). qPCR testing of blood samples (n = 9) and urine (n = 4) was negative. None of the 10 serum samples tested MAT positive. A primary cluster of qPCR-positive locations was detected based on six infected rats, which partially overlapped with a previously identified cluster of canine leptospirosis cases in Sydney. These findings suggest that rats in Sydney might play a role in the transmission of leptospirosis to dogs and people. Further testing of rats in Sydney and investigation into other possible wildlife reservoirs of infection and environmental sources of leptospires are needed. MDPI 2023-07-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10383884/ /pubmed/37512903 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071731 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bedoya-Pérez, Miguel A.
Westman, Mark E.
Loomes, Max
Chung, Nga Yee Natalie
Knobel, Benjamin
Ward, Michael P.
Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia
title Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia
title_full Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia
title_fullStr Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia
title_full_unstemmed Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia
title_short Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Present in Urban Rats in Sydney, Australia
title_sort pathogenic leptospira species are present in urban rats in sydney, australia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10383884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37512903
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11071731
work_keys_str_mv AT bedoyaperezmiguela pathogenicleptospiraspeciesarepresentinurbanratsinsydneyaustralia
AT westmanmarke pathogenicleptospiraspeciesarepresentinurbanratsinsydneyaustralia
AT loomesmax pathogenicleptospiraspeciesarepresentinurbanratsinsydneyaustralia
AT chungngayeenatalie pathogenicleptospiraspeciesarepresentinurbanratsinsydneyaustralia
AT knobelbenjamin pathogenicleptospiraspeciesarepresentinurbanratsinsydneyaustralia
AT wardmichaelp pathogenicleptospiraspeciesarepresentinurbanratsinsydneyaustralia