Julius Kühn-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Plant Protection in Horticulture and Forests, Vertebrate Research, Münster, Germany.
University of Antwerp, Department of Biology, Evolutionary Ecology Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Sep 16;16(9):e0010757. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010757. eCollection 2022 Sep.
Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease and one of the leading causes of zoonotic morbidity and mortality, particularly in resource-poor settings. Sri Lanka has one of the highest disease burdens worldwide, with occasional endemic leptospirosis outbreaks (2008, 2011). Rodents are considered the main wildlife reservoir, but due to a scarcity of studies it is unclear which particular species contributes to bacterial transmission and reservoir maintenance in this multi-host multi-parasite system. Several rodent species act as agricultural pests both in rice fields and in food storage facilities. To unravel the interactions among the small mammal communities, pathogenic Leptospira spp. and human transmission pathways, we collected animals from smallholder food storage facilities, where contact between humans and small mammals is most likely, and screened kidney tissue samples for Leptospira spp. using PCR. Samples were collected in three climatic zones along a rainfall gradient. Pathogenic Leptospira spp. were detected in small mammal communities in 37 (74%) out of 50 sampled farms and 61 (12%) out of 500 collected individuals were infected. The small mammal community was comprised of Rattus rattus (87.6%), Suncus shrews (8.8%), Bandicota spp. (2.8%) and Mus booduga (0.8%). Three pathogenic Leptospira spp. were identified, L. borgpetersenii (n = 34), L. interrogans (n = 15), and L. kirschneri (n = 1). Suncus shrews were commonly infected (32%), followed by B. indica (23%) and R. rattus (10%). L. borgpetersenii strains similar to strains previously extracted from human clinal samples in Sri Lanka were detected in R. rattus and Suncus shrews. L. interrogans was observed in R. rattus only. A single L. kirschneri infection was found in M. booduga. The presence of human pathogenic Leptospira species in an agricultural pest rodent (R. rattus) and in commensal shrews (Suncus) calls for management of these species in commensal settings. Further investigation of the interplay between pathogen and reservoir population dynamics, overlap in geographic range and the extent of spill-over to humans in and around rural settlements is required to identify optimal management approaches.
钩端螺旋体病是一种被忽视的人畜共患疾病，也是导致人畜共患发病率和死亡率的主要原因之一，尤其是在资源匮乏的环境中。斯里兰卡是全球疾病负担最高的国家之一，偶尔会爆发地方性钩端螺旋体病（2008 年、2011 年）。啮齿动物被认为是主要的野生动物宿主，但由于研究不足，尚不清楚在这种多宿主多寄生虫系统中，哪些特定物种有助于细菌传播和宿主维持。有几种啮齿动物既是稻田也是粮食储存设施中的农业害虫。为了揭示小型哺乳动物群落、致病性钩端螺旋体和人类传播途径之间的相互作用，我们从小型家庭粮食储存设施中收集动物样本，这些设施是人与小型哺乳动物最有可能接触的地方，并使用 PCR 筛选肾脏组织样本中的钩端螺旋体。样本是在沿降雨梯度的三个气候带中收集的。在 50 个抽样农场中，有 37 个（74%）检测到小型哺乳动物群落中存在致病性钩端螺旋体，在 500 个收集的个体中有 61 个（12%）感染。小型哺乳动物群落由 Rattus rattus（87.6%）、Suncus 鼩鼱（8.8%）、Bandicota spp.（2.8%）和 Mus booduga（0.8%）组成。鉴定出三种致病性钩端螺旋体，即 L. borgpetersenii（n = 34）、L. interrogans（n = 15）和 L. kirschneri（n = 1）。Suncus 鼩鼱的感染率较高（32%），其次是 B. indica（23%）和 R. rattus（10%）。在 R. rattus 和 Suncus 鼩鼱中检测到与斯里兰卡先前从人类临床样本中提取的菌株相似的 L. borgpetersenii 菌株。仅在 R. rattus 中观察到 L. interrogans。在 M. booduga 中发现了单一的 L. kirschneri 感染。农业害虫（R. rattus）和共生鼩鼱（Suncus）中存在人类致病性钩端螺旋体，需要对这些物种在共生环境中进行管理。需要进一步研究病原体和宿主种群动态、地理范围重叠以及农村居民点内外向人类溢出的程度，以确定最佳管理方法。
