AUTHOR=Medeiros Luciana dos Santos , Braga Domingos Susan Christina , Azevedo Maria Isabel Nogueira Di , Peruquetti Rui Carlos , de Albuquerque Narianne Ferreira , D'Andrea Paulo Sérgio , Botelho André Luis de Moura , Crisóstomo Charle Ferreira , Vieira Anahi Souto , Martins Gabriel , Teixeira Bernardo Rodrigues , Carvalho-Costa Filipe Anibal , Lilenbaum Walter TITLE=Small Mammals as Carriers/Hosts of Leptospira spp. in the Western Amazon Forest JOURNAL=Frontiers in Veterinary Science VOLUME=7 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.569004 DOI=10.3389/fvets.2020.569004 ISSN=2297-1769 ABSTRACT=

Leptospira is a bacteria that causes leptospirosis and is transmitted through water, soil, or mud that is contaminated by the urine of infected animals. Although it is mainly associated with the urban environment, Leptospires also circulate in rural and wild environments. This study aimed to investigate the role of small mammals in leptospirosis epidemiology in the western Amazon, Brazil. In total, 103 animals from 23 species belonging to the orders Didelphimorphia and Rodentia were captured. Blood, kidney, and urine samples were collected and Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT), lipL32 PCR, secY sequencing, and culturing were conducted. MAT was reactive on 1/15 sera, and no bacterial isolate was obtained. PCR yielded 44.7% positive samples from 16 species. Twenty samples were genetically characterized and identified as L. interrogans (n = 12), L. noguchii (n = 4), and L. santarosai (n = 4). No statistical association was found between the prevalence of infection by Leptospira spp. in small mammals within carrier/hosts species, orders, study area, and forest strata. Our results indicate a high prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in several rodent and marsupial species and report the first evidence of Leptospira spp. carrier/hosts in the Brazilian Western Amazon.