Habus Josipa, Persic Zdenka, Spicic Silvio, Vince Silvijo, Stritof Zrinka, Milas Zoran, Cvetnic Zeljko, Perharic Matko, Turk Nenad
National Reference Laboratory for Leptospirosis (NRL), Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease with Clinic, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Zagreb, Heinzelova 55, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Croatian National Reference Laboratory for Human Leptospirosis, Croatian Institute of Public Health, Rockfellerova 7, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Acta Trop. 2017 Apr;168:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.01.002. Epub 2017 Jan 4.
Leptospirosis is a geographically widespread and globally underestimated zoonosis that affects humans and variety of animals. To identify trends and possible risk factors, joined medical and veterinary teams investigated epidemiology and epizootiology of leptospirosis in Croatia. Retrospective analysis of data obtained from referent diagnostic laboratories included a total of 1917 human and 123964 animal sera tested in the period from 2009 to 2014. We found high human leptospirosis average incidence rate of 1.53/100000 with clear predominance of male patients older than 40 years (sex ratio M/F:3.2; median age 51±15.1years). Statistical analysis revealed seasonal and annual variations of incidence in humans that were primarily associated with favourable weather conditions (temperature 10-19, 9°C and precipitation above 100mm/m). Majority of infections in humans were caused by serogroups Sejroe, Australis and Icterohaemorrhagiae. Notable variations in seroprevalence and changing trends in prevailing serogroups were recorded in most of the domestic animals and during the entire period of investigation. All of the observed findings underline leptospirosis as a significant human and veterinary public health threat and emphasize the importance of continuous multidisciplinary surveillance. We also argue that only input from both professions improves our overall knowledge on leptospirosis and leads to better and more efficient prevention and control strategies.
钩端螺旋体病是一种在地理上广泛分布且在全球范围内被低估的人畜共患病，可感染人类和多种动物。为了确定趋势和可能的风险因素，医学和兽医联合团队对克罗地亚钩端螺旋体病的流行病学和动物流行病学进行了调查。对从参考诊断实验室获得的数据进行的回顾性分析包括2009年至2014年期间总共检测的1917份人类血清和123964份动物血清。我们发现人类钩端螺旋体病的平均发病率较高，为1.53/100000，40岁以上男性患者明显占主导（男女比例M/F：3.2；中位年龄51±15.1岁）。统计分析显示，人类发病率存在季节性和年度变化，主要与有利的天气条件（温度10 - 19、9°C，降水量超过100mm/m）有关。人类的大多数感染是由 Sejroe、Australis 和 Icterohaemorrhagiae 血清群引起的。在大多数家畜以及整个调查期间，血清阳性率存在显著差异，流行血清群也有变化趋势。所有观察结果都强调钩端螺旋体病是对人类和兽医公共卫生的重大威胁，并强调了持续进行多学科监测的重要性。我们还认为，只有两个专业的投入才能提高我们对钩端螺旋体病的整体认识，并带来更好、更有效的预防和控制策略。
