First epidemiological data on pathogenic leptospires isolated on the Azorean islands

• Main Authors: Collares-Pereira, Margarida, Korver, H., Terpstra, W. J., Santos-Reis, Margarida, Ramalhinho, Maria Graça, Mathias, Maria da Luz, Oom, Maria do Mar, Fons, Roger, Libois, Roland, Petrucci-Fonseca, F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1997
• Subjects: leptospirosis; zoonosis; isolates; insular syndrome; Azores; small mammals; Human health sciences; Immunology & infectious disease; Sciences de la santé humaine; Immunologie & maladie infectieuse; Rattus rattus
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/111624; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/111624/1/lepto.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007383405833

peer reviewed Insectivores (Erinaceus europaeus) and rodents (Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus and Mus musculus) from different islands of the Azores archipelago were found to carry three distinct Leptospira interrogans s.l. serovars (copenhageni, icterohaemorrhagiae and ballum) which have never been previously investigated there. The house mouse and the black rat were the major Leptospira reservoir showing isolation rates ranging from 0% for both species (in Graciosa) to 88 % and 33 %, respectively (in São Miguel). This study also showed that the majority of the animals with positive kidney cultures exhibited specific agglutinins agaibst the isolated strains of Leptospira. The observed isalation rates in the different islands, with a very interesting island variation in prevalence, suggest that small mammals, serving as sylvatic reservoirs of pathogenic leptospires, may represent an important risk to the health of humans and the livestock, particularly in the islands of Terceira and São Miguel.