Lu Xiao, Westman Mark E, Mizzi Rachel, Griebsch Christine, Norris Jacqueline M, Jenkins Cheryl, Ward Michael P
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.
Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute (EMAI), Woodbridge Road, Menangle, NSW 2568, Australia.
Trop Med Infect Dis. 2024 Jun 6;9(6):128. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed9060128.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the spirochete bacteria spp. From December 2017 to December 2023, a total of 34 canine leptospirosis cases were reported in urban Sydney, Australia. During the same spatio-temporal frame, one locally acquired human case was also reported. As it was hypothesised that human residents and companion dogs might both be exposed to pathogenic in community green spaces in Sydney, an environmental survey was conducted from December 2023 to January 2024 to detect the presence of pathogenic DNA in multipurpose, recreational public parks in the council areas of the Inner West and City of Sydney, Australia. A total of 75 environmental samples were collected from 20 public parks that were easily accessible by human and canine visitors. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) testing targeting pathogenic and intermediate spp. was performed, and differences in detection of spp. between dog-allowed and dog-prohibited areas were statistically examined. The global Moran's Index was calculated to identify any spatial autocorrelation in the qPCR results. Pathogenic leptospires were detected in all 20 parks, either in water or soil samples (35/75 samples). Cycle threshold (Ct) values were slightly lower for water samples (Ct 28.52-39.10) compared to soil samples (Ct 33.78-39.77). The chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test results were statistically non-significant ( > 0.05 for both water and soil samples), and there was no spatial autocorrelation detected in the qPCR results ( > 0.05 for both sample types). Although further research is now required, our preliminary results indicate the presence of pathogenic DNA and its potential ubiquity in recreational parks in Sydney.
钩端螺旋体病是一种由钩端螺旋体属螺旋体细菌引起的人畜共患病。2017年12月至2023年12月,澳大利亚悉尼市区共报告了34例犬钩端螺旋体病病例。在同一时空范围内,还报告了1例本地感染的人类病例。由于推测悉尼的人类居民和伴侣犬可能在社区绿地中都接触到致病性钩端螺旋体,因此在2023年12月至2024年1月进行了一项环境调查,以检测澳大利亚悉尼内西区和悉尼市议会区域的多用途休闲公园中致病性钩端螺旋体DNA的存在。从20个人类和犬类游客容易到达的公园共采集了75份环境样本。针对致病性和中间型钩端螺旋体属进行了定量PCR(qPCR)检测,并对允许犬只进入区域和禁止犬只进入区域之间钩端螺旋体属的检测差异进行了统计学检验。计算了全局莫兰指数以确定qPCR结果中是否存在任何空间自相关性。在所有20个公园的水样或土壤样本中均检测到致病性钩端螺旋体(35/75个样本)。与土壤样本(Ct 33.78 - 39.77)相比,水样的循环阈值(Ct)值略低(Ct 28.52 - 39.10)。卡方检验和费舍尔精确检验结果在统计学上无显著性差异(水样和土壤样本的P值均>0.05),并且在qPCR结果中未检测到空间自相关性(两种样本类型的P值均>0.05)。尽管现在需要进一步研究,但我们的初步结果表明悉尼休闲公园中存在致病性钩端螺旋体DNA及其潜在的普遍性。