Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, North Grafton, MA 01536, USA.
Latinvets, Portland, OR 97232, USA.
J Zoo Wildl Med. 2021 Jan;51(4):780-788. doi: 10.1638/2019-0192.
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 ().
钩端螺旋体病是一种全球性分布的人畜共患病，由致病性 spp.引起。致病性 spp.在感染宿主的尿液中排出，并通过摄入受污染的食物或水、接种、吸入尿气溶胶以及通过粘膜吸收传播。钩端螺旋体病在哥伦比亚巴兰基亚等热带和亚热带地区尤为令人关注。最近的报告表明，在巴兰基亚，啮齿动物、狗和人类的钩端螺旋体血清阳性率很高；在动物园哺乳动物中，非人类灵长类动物的 spp.感染率很高。因此，我们试图确定巴兰基亚动物园圈养的灵长类动物是否接触过 spp.，以及灵长类动物和家庭周围啮齿动物之间是否存在可能的因果传播联系。从 29 只圈养的非人类灵长类动物、15 只自由放养的大鼠（）和 10 只自由放养的松鼠（）中采集样本。通过微量凝集试验（MAT）对灵长类动物、大鼠和松鼠的血清样本进行评估，与 24 个参考 血清型进行比较。从灵长类动物采集血液和尿液，从大鼠和松鼠采集肾脏组织，在 Ellinghausen-McCullough-Johnson-Harris（EMJH）培养基中培养，并进行聚合酶链反应（PCR），以确定是否存在活性感染。结果发现，大鼠的钩端螺旋体血清阳性率为 66.7%（15/22），松鼠为 60%（6/10），新热带灵长类动物为 6.9%（2/29）。和 分别对血清群 Cynopteri 和 Ictohaemorrhagiae 有阳性滴度。在对 spp.有抗体的啮齿动物中，90%的大鼠和 66.7%的松鼠与血清型 australis 相对应。有趣的是，所有动物的培养和 PCR 均为阴性，表明 spp.暴露而无当前感染。虽然它们作为维持宿主的地位需要进一步调查，但这是第一项表明红尾松鼠（）存在钩端螺旋体血清阳性的研究。
