title: An epidemiological comparative study on diagnosis of rodent leptospirosis in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Leptospirosis is a zoonosis caused by leptospires, in which transmission occurs through contact with contaminated biological fluids from infected animals. Rodents can act as a source of infection for humans and animals. The disease has a global distribution, mainly in humid, tropical and sub-tropical regions. The aim of this study was to compare culture assays, the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and nested PCR (n-PCR), for the diagnosis of leptospirosis in rodents in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred fifty-one rodents were trapped alive at 10 locations, and their urine and kidney samples were collected and used for the isolation of live Leptospira. The infecting serovars were identified and the antibody titres were measured by MAT, using a panel of 20 strains of live Leptospira species as antigens. The presence of leptospiral DNA was evaluated in urine and kidney samples using PCR and n-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No live leptospires were isolated from the kidney and urine samples of the rodents. Different detection rates of leptospirosis were observed with MAT (21.2%), PCR (11.3%), and n-PCR (3.3%). The dominant strain was Leptospira serjoehardjo (34.4%, p=0.28), although other serotypes were also found. The prevalence of positive leptospirosis tests in rodents was 15.9, 2.6, and 2.6% among Rattus norvegicus, R. rattus, and Apodemus sylvaticus, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Leptospirosis was prevalent in rodents in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. MAT was able to detect leptospires more frequently than culture or PCR. The kidney was a more suitable site for identifying leptospiral DNA by n-PCR than urine. Culture was not found to be an appropriate technique for clinical diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Esfandiari
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Pourshafie
authors.affiliation: Centre for Diseases Control and Prevention, Ministry of Health, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Mehdi
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gouya
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Pejvak
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Khaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mostafavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Jamshid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Darvish
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Department, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Soheila Moradi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Bidhendi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hanifi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nahrevanian
keywords: Culture; Iran; Leptospira; Mazandaran; Microscopic agglutination test; Nested polymerase chain reaction; Rodent