[Leptospira infected rat population as probable cause of a fatal case of Weil's disease].

In the summer of 1992 a patient died of a leptospiral infection which he probably had contracted while he was swimming in an artificial lake in the region of Tübingen/Reutlingen. Regarding the epidemiological role of leptospirosis the rodent population was investigated, because rats and mice were often seen in the surrounding area. 11 rats and 20 mice could be trapped. From their urine or kidneys two leptospiral serovars were isolated: Serovar copenhageni from Rattus norvegicus and serovar saxkoebing from Clethrionomys glareolus. Leptospiral antibody titers were not detected in one of these infected animals. It may be supposed that the Leptospira interrogans serovar copenhageni out of the Serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae had caused the leptospiral infection of the patient.