title: Isolation of Leptospira interrogans from suburban rats in Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
abstract: The main objective of this study was to investigate the role of wild rodents as Leptospira spp. reservoirs in a suburban area of Tandil city, Buenos Aires province (Argentina), where a person had died due to pulmonary leptospirosis. The specific objectives were: to estimate the rodent density near the patient's home, to determine the serological prevalence and isolation of leptospirosis from wild rodents, and to identify the isolated strains. The area examined was a suburban neighbourhood in Tandil near the Langueyú stream, where the patient's house is located. Rattus norvegicus were trapped on the stream banks during two nights and a high capture rate (70%), was obtained. All rats (42) were examined serologically by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), and 22 of them (52.3%) reacted with Leptospira serovars castellonis, canicola, grippotyphosa, icterohaemorrhagiae and hebdomadis at a titer of 1:50. The kidneys from 25 animals were cultured, and 24 isolates of L. interrogans (96%) were obtained. The isolated strains were identified as Icterohaemorrhagiae serogroup by MAT performed with rabbit hyperimmune reference sera. These findings showed a high density of suburban rodents highly infected with pathogenic leptospira, sharing environment in close contact with humans with evidence of leptospiral disease.
authors.affiliation: División Zoonosis Rurales, España 770, (7300) Azul, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. exequielscialfa@yahoo.com.ar
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Scialfa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bolpe
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bardón
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ridao
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gallicchio
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000382:microbiology; D001118:Argentina / Q000453:epidemiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology*; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D055868:Floods; D006801:Humans; D041383:Leptospira interrogans serovar icterohaemorrhagiae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats / Q000382:microbiology*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D018881:Suburban Health; D014556:Urine / Q000382:microbiology; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014876:Water Pollution; D055815:Young Adult; D015047:Zoonoses