Instituto de Microbiología, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Universidad San Francisco de Quito USFQ, Quito, Ecuador.
Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Oct 29;19(10):e0312556. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312556. eCollection 2024.
Leptospirosis is one of the most common zoonoses in the world which is associated with a severe febrile disease in humans causing a variety of syndromes including meningitis, interstitial nephritis, hepatitis, and sometimes death. Leptospirosis is caused by different pathogenic Leptospira species divided into almost 30 serogroups and more than 300 serovars which are carried by some animal asymptomatic chronic infections. Humans can become infected through direct contact with animal urine or indirectly by coming into contact with fresh water or mud contaminated with urine.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this research, we looked for leptospiral DNA in urine samples from dogs living in a rural, low-income and highly endemic community in the coast of Ecuador. We used molecular biology and next-generation sequencing for the detection. Our results showed evidence of two Leptospira species, L interrogans and L. santarosai, genomes in three dogs.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: It has been widely known that animal carriers are typically infected with a single leptospiral strain. However, recent reports, including the present one, indicate that carrier animals may be coinfected with two or more leptospiral species.
钩端螺旋体病是世界上最常见的动物源性传染病之一，可引起人类严重的发热疾病，导致多种综合征，包括脑膜炎、间质性肾炎、肝炎，有时甚至死亡。钩端螺旋体病由不同的致病性钩端螺旋体引起，分为近 30 个血清群和 300 多个血清型，这些血清型由一些动物无症状慢性感染携带。人类可通过直接接触动物尿液或间接接触受尿液污染的淡水或泥浆而感染。
方法/主要发现：在这项研究中，我们在厄瓜多尔沿海一个农村、低收入和高度流行地区的狗的尿液样本中寻找钩端螺旋体 DNA。我们使用分子生物学和下一代测序进行检测。我们的结果表明，有三只狗的基因组中存在两种钩端螺旋体，即问号钩端螺旋体和 L. santarosai。
结论/意义：众所周知，动物携带者通常感染单一的钩端螺旋体菌株。然而，包括本研究在内的最近的报告表明，携带动物可能同时感染两种或更多种钩端螺旋体。
