Michel V, Ruvoen-Clouet N, Menard A, Sonrier C, Fillonneau C, Rakotovao F, Ganière J P, André-Fontaine G
Unité de Bactériologie Médicale et Moléculaire des Leptospires, Nantes, France.
Eur J Epidemiol. 2001;17(2):111-21. doi: 10.1023/a:1017931607318.
The coypu (Myocastor coypus), a rodent whose natural habitat is stagnant freshwater, has become a widespread pest in France within the last decade. This study investigated the prevalence of seropositivity and the renal carriage of leptospires in coypus in order to evaluate their role in terms of the risk of infection by Leptospira interrogans in domestic animals and humans. The study involved the application of serological and bacteriological methods to identify leptospires infection and/or carriage in 738 coypus trapped from 1996 to 1999 in six areas of France. Seroprevalence in samples ranged from 16.5 to 66%, and three field strains were isolated (two L. interrogans Icterohaemorrhagiae and one L. interrogans Sejroe). This first report on the isolation of leptospires from coypus in France emphasises the role of this animal in the epidemiology of leptospirosis.
河狸鼠（Myocastor coypus）是一种自然栖息地为淡水死水区域的啮齿动物，在过去十年间已成为法国广泛分布的有害动物。本研究调查了河狸鼠血清阳性率及钩端螺旋体的肾脏携带情况，以评估它们在家畜和人类感染问号钩端螺旋体风险方面所起的作用。该研究采用血清学和细菌学方法，对1996年至1999年在法国六个地区捕获的738只河狸鼠进行检测，以确定钩端螺旋体感染和/或携带情况。样本的血清阳性率在16.5%至66%之间，并且分离出了三株野外菌株（两株出血性黄疸钩端螺旋体问号亚种和一株爪哇钩端螺旋体问号亚种）。这份关于在法国河狸鼠中分离出钩端螺旋体的首次报告，强调了这种动物在钩端螺旋体病流行病学中的作用。
