SPECIES STATUS OF CAPTIVE NONHUMAN PRIMATES AND FREE-RANGING RODENTS AT THE BARRANQUILLA ZOO, COLOMBIA, 2013.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with worldwide distribution caused by pathogenic spp. Pathogenic spp. are shed in urine of infected hosts and transmitted via ingestion of contaminated food or water, inoculation, inhalation of aerosolized urine, and absorption through mucous membranes. Leptospirosis is of particular concern in tropical and subtropical regions such as Barranquilla, Colombia. Recent reports indicate that in Barranquilla, rodents, dogs, and humans have a high leptospiral seroprevalence; and amongst zoo mammals, nonhuman primates have a high prevalence of spp. infection. We therefore sought to determine whether primates in captivity at the Barranquilla Zoo were exposed to spp. and whether there was a probable causal transmission link between the primates and peridomestic rodents. Samples were collected from 29 captive nonhuman primates, 15 free-ranging rats (), and 10 free-ranging squirrels (). Serum samples from primates, rats, and squirrels were evaluated via microagglutination test (MAT) vs 24 reference serovars. Blood and urine from the primates and kidney tissue from the rats and squirrels were cultured in Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris (EMJH) medium and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of was performed to determine whether active infection was present. Leptospiral seroprevalence was found to be 66.7% (10/15) in rats, 60% (6/10) in squirrels, and 6.9% (2/29) in neotropical primates. and had positive titers to serogroups Cynopteri and Ictohaemorrhagiae, respectively. Of the rodents that had antibodies against spp., 90% of the rats and 66.7% of the squirrels corresponded to the serovar australis. Interestingly, all animals were culture and PCR negative, indicating spp. exposure in the absence of current infection. While their status as maintenance hosts needs to be investigated further, this is the first study to show leptospiral seropositivity in red-tailed squirrels ().