Shedding and Genetic Diversity of Leptospira spp. From Urban Stray Dogs in Klang Valley, Malaysia

Serological evidence of exposure of healthy dogs to Leptospira in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

In 2017, highly fatal canine leptospirosis emerged in Sydney, Australia. Based on results of microscopic agglutination testing (MAT), serovar Copenhageni appeared to be the most common causative serovar. Prior to this, no clinical cases had been reported since 1976. In a serosurvey of healthy dogs in Australian shelters in 2004, 2.4% of 431 New South Wales dogs had serological evidence of exposure to Copenhageni, the most prevalent serovar. The aim of this study was to estimate the current prevalence of Leptospira exposure and associated serovars in healthy Sydney dogs, previously unvaccinated against Leptospira. Serum samples from 411 healthy dogs in leptospirosis hotspots and neighbouring suburbs were collected before vaccination. MAT for 23 serovars was performed at the WHO Leptospirosis Reference Laboratory in Queensland, Australia. The overall seroprevalence was 4.1% (17/411) with low titres (1/50-1/200) detected. Eleven dogs were from known leptospirosis hotspots. Eight dogs were known to hunt rodents. One dog had been in contact with a leptospirosis positive dog 1 year prior. Serovar Topaz was the most prevalent serovar (n = 5) followed by serovars Australis (n = 4), Copenhageni (n = 4), Djasiman (n = 2), Cynopteri (n = 1), Javanica (n = 1), Medanensis (n = 1), and Pomona (n = 1). In conclusion, serological evidence of exposure of dogs in Sydney to Leptospira is low, but apparently has increased since 2004. Positive titres to serovars not previously reported to cause disease in dogs could be due to low virulence of those serovars or cross-reactivity with other serovars.

Prevalence of Pathogenic Leptospira spp. in Non-Volant Small Mammals of Hutan Lipur Sekayu, Terengganu, Malaysia

Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic disease that is transmitted worldwide through infected small mammals such as rodents. In Malaysia, there is a paucity of information on the animal reservoirs that are responsible for leptospirosis transmission, with only a few studies focusing on leptospirosis risk in recreational areas. Therefore, in this study we characterized the species composition and the prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in non-volant small mammals of Hutan Lipur Sekayu, Terengganu. We performed ten trapping sessions totaling 3000 trappings between September 2019 and October 2020. Kidney samples from captured individuals were extracted for the PCR detection of pathogenic Leptospira spp. Overall, we captured 45 individuals from 8 species (1.56% successful trapping effort), with 9 individuals testing positive for pathogenic Leptospira, that is, a 20% (n = 9/45) prevalence rate. Rattus tiomanicus (n = 22) was the most dominant captured species and had the highest positive individual with pathogenic Leptospira (44.4%, n = 4/9). Despite the low successful trapping effort in this study, the results show the high diversity of non-volant small mammals in Hutan Lipur Sekayu, and that they could also maintain and transmit pathogenic Leptospira.