1887
Surveillance and outbreak report Open Access

Abstract

Leptospirosis is an under-reported and emerging zoonotic disease which is potentially fatal in humans. Rodents are the main reservoirs for pathogenic spp., but diagnosis in these animals is difficult, and their infection, which does not induce symptoms, usually goes unoticed. Although the exposures of most human cases of leptospirosis are poorly documented, we were able to identify six human cases of leptospirosis which were associated with direct contact with pet rodents (mice or rats) in Belgium and France between 2009 and 2016. All cases had severe disease and for all, the presence of spp. DNA in the kidneys of their pet animals was confirmed, strongly suggesting that excretion of leptospires in urine was the way of transmission. Half of the cases shared the serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae, which is usually associated with severe disease, with the pet rats which they were in contact with. With the popularity of rats and mice as pets, this study should contribute to raising awareness on asymptomatic pet rodents as a source of infections.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.43.16-00792
2017-10-26
2024-12-22
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.43.16-00792
Loading
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/eurosurveillance/22/43/eurosurv-22-43-2.html?itemId=/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.43.16-00792&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Dietrich M, Mühldorfer K, Tortosa P, Markotter W. Leptospira and Bats: Story of an Emerging Friendship. PLoS Pathog. 2015;11(11) e1005176;e1005176.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1005176  PMID: 26562435 
  2. Ellis WA. Animal Leptospirosis. In: Adler B, editor. Leptospira and Leptospirosis. Springer; 2014. p. 99-137.
  3. Jobbins SE, Alexander KA. Evidence of Leptospira sp. infection among a diversity of African wildlife species: beyond the usual suspects. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2015;109(5):349-51.  https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/trv007  PMID: 25669841 
  4. Mgode GF, Machang’u RS, Mhamphi GG, Katakweba A, Mulungu LS, Durnez L, et al. Leptospira Serovars for Diagnosis of Leptospirosis in Humans and Animals in Africa: Common Leptospira Isolates and Reservoir Hosts. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(12):e0004251.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004251  PMID: 26624890 
  5. Inada R, Ido Y, Hoki R, Kaneko R, Ito H. The etiology, mode of infection and specific therapy of Weil’s disease (Spirochaeta icterohaemorrhagiae). J Exp Med. 1916;23(3):377-402.  https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.23.3.377  PMID: 19867994 
  6. Andre-Fontaine G, Aviat F, Thorin C. Water borne leptospirosis: survival and preservation of the virulence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in fresh water. Curr Microbiol. 2015;71(1):136-42.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-015-0836-4  PMID: 26003629 
  7. Ko AI, Goarant C, Picardeau M. Leptospira: the dawn of the molecular genetics era for an emerging zoonotic pathogen. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2009;7(10):736-47.  https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2208  PMID: 19756012 
  8. Costa F, Hagan JE, Calcagno J, Kane M, Torgerson P, Martinez-Silveira MS, et al. Global Morbidity and Mortality of Leptospirosis: A Systematic Review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(9):e0003898.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003898  PMID: 26379143 
  9. Pijnacker R, Goris MG, Te Wierik MJ, Broens EM, van der Giessen JW, de Rosa M, et al. Marked increase in leptospirosis infections in humans and dogs in the Netherlands, 2014. Euro Surveill. 2016;21(17):30211.  https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2016.21.17.30211  PMID: 27168584 
  10. Dufour B, Moutou F, Hattenberger AM, Rodhain F. Medidas sanitarias en la gestión de los cambios planetarios, sus consecuencias y riesgos: el ejemplo de Europa. [Global change: impact, management, risk approach and health measures--the case of Europe]. Rev Sci Tech. 2008;27(2):529-50.  https://doi.org/10.20506/rst.27.2.1817  PMID: 18819676 
  11. Dupouey J, Faucher B, Edouard S, Richet H, Kodjo A, Drancourt M, et al. Human leptospirosis: an emerging risk in Europe? Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis. 2014;37(2):77-83.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cimid.2013.12.002  PMID: 24388481 
  12. Baranton G, Postic D. Trends in leptospirosis epidemiology in France. Sixty-six years of passive serological surveillance from 1920 to 2003. Int J Infect Dis. 2006;10(2):162-70.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2005.02.010  PMID: 16298537 
  13. Monahan AM, Miller IS, Nally JE. Leptospirosis: risks during recreational activities. J Appl Microbiol. 2009;107(3):707-16.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2009.04220.x  PMID: 19302325 
  14. Levett PN. Leptospirosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2001;14(2):296-326.  https://doi.org/10.1128/CMR.14.2.296-326.2001  PMID: 11292640 
  15. Nardone A, Capek I, Baranton G, Campèse C, Postic D, Vaillant V, et al. Risk factors for leptospirosis in metropolitan France: results of a national case-control study, 1999-2000. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;39(5):751-3.  https://doi.org/10.1086/423272  PMID: 15356794 
  16. Mori M, VAN Esbroeck M, Depoorter S, Decaluwe W, Vandecasteele SJ, Fretin D, et al. Outbreak of leptospirosis during a scout camp in the Luxembourg Belgian province, Belgium, summer 2012. Epidemiol Infect. 2015;143(8):1761-6.  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268814002763  PMID: 25311398 
  17. Brockmann SO, Ulrich L, Piechotowski I, Wagner-Wiening C, Nöckler K, Mayer-Scholl A, et al. Risk factors for human Leptospira seropositivity in South Germany. Springerplus. 2016;5(1):1796.  https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-3483-8  PMID: 27803844 
  18. Džupová O, Smíšková D, Hůzová Z, Beneš J. [Leptospirosis contracted from pet rats]. Klin Mikrobiol Infekc Lek. 2012;18(5):156-9. PMID: 23208870 
  19. Gaudie CM, Featherstone CA, Phillips WS, McNaught R, Rhodes PM, Errington J, et al. Human Leptospira interrogans serogroup icterohaemorrhagiae infection (Weil’s disease) acquired from pet rats. Vet Rec. 2008;163(20):599-601.  https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.163.20.599  PMID: 19011247 
  20. Guerra B, Schneider T, Luge E, Draeger A, Moos V, Loddenkemper C, et al. Detection and characterization of Leptospira interrogans isolates from pet rats belonging to a human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient with leptospirosis. J Med Microbiol. 2008;57(Pt 1):133-5.  https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.47452-0  PMID: 18065682 
  21. Strugnell BW, Featherstone C, Gent M, Lister P, Evans G, Okereke E, et al. Weil’s disease associated with the adoption of a feral rat. Vet Rec. 2009;164(6):186.  https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.164.6.186  PMID: 19202179 
  22. Bourhy P, Vray M, Picardeau M. Evaluation of an in-house ELISA using the intermediate species Leptospira fainei for diagnosis of leptospirosis. J Med Microbiol. 2013;62(Pt 6):822-7.  https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.054304-0  PMID: 23493028 
  23. Mérien F, Amouriaux P, Perolat P, Baranton G, Saint Girons I. Polymerase chain reaction for detection of Leptospira spp. in clinical samples. J Clin Microbiol. 1992;30(9):2219-24. PMID: 1400983 
  24. Salaün L, Mérien F, Gurianova S, Baranton G, Picardeau M. Application of multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis for molecular typing of the agent of leptospirosis. J Clin Microbiol. 2006;44(11):3954-62.  https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00336-06  PMID: 17088367 
  25. Halsby KD, Walsh AL, Campbell C, Hewitt K, Morgan D. Healthy animals, healthy people: zoonosis risk from animal contact in pet shops, a systematic review of the literature. PLoS One. 2014;9(2):e89309.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0089309  PMID: 24586679 
  26. Ayral F, Zilber AL, Bicout DJ, Kodjo A, Artois M, Djelouadji Z. Distribution of Leptospira interrogans by Multispacer Sequence Typing in Urban Norway Rats (Rattus norvegicus): A Survey in France in 2011-2013. PLoS One. 2015;10(10):e0139604.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139604  PMID: 26447693 
  27. Desai S, van Treeck U, Lierz M, Espelage W, Zota L, Sarbu A, et al. Resurgence of field fever in a temperate country: an epidemic of leptospirosis among seasonal strawberry harvesters in Germany in 2007. Clin Infect Dis. 2009;48(6):691-7.  https://doi.org/10.1086/597036  PMID: 19193108 
  28. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Leptospirosis. Infection in pets. Atlanta: CDC. [Accessed 24 Oct 2017]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/pets/infection/index.html
  29. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Annual Epidemiological Report 2016 – Leptospirosis. Stockholm: ECDC; 2016. Available from: https://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/leptospirosis-annual-epidemiological-report-2016-2014-data
  30. Bourhy P, Septfons A, Picardeau M. Diagnostic, surveillance et épidémiologie de la leptospirose en France. [Diagnosis, surveillance, and epidemiology of leptospirosis in France]. Santé Publique France: BEH. 4 Apr 2017: 8-9. Available from: http://invs.santepubliquefrance.fr/beh/2017/8-9/2017_8-9_1.html
  31. Hochedez P, Theodose R, Olive C, Bourhy P, Hurtrel G, Vignier N, et al. Factors Associated with Severe Leptospirosis, Martinique, 2010-2013. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015;21(12):2221-4.  https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2112.141099  PMID: 26583702 
  32. Tubiana S, Mikulski M, Becam J, Lacassin F, Lefèvre P, Gourinat AC, et al. Risk factors and predictors of severe leptospirosis in New Caledonia. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2013;7(1):e1991.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0001991  PMID: 23326614 
  33. Taylor AJ, Paris DH, Newton PN. A Systematic Review of the Mortality from Untreated Leptospirosis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015;9(6):e0003866.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003866  PMID: 26110270 
  34. Goris MG, Kikken V, Straetemans M, Alba S, Goeijenbier M, van Gorp EC, et al. Towards the burden of human leptospirosis: duration of acute illness and occurrence of post-leptospirosis symptoms of patients in the Netherlands. PLoS One. 2013;8(10):e76549.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076549  PMID: 24098528 
  35. De Oliveira D, Figueira CP, Zhan L, Pertile AC, Pedra GG, Gusmão IM, et al. Leptospira in breast tissue and milk of urban Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus). Epidemiol Infect. 2016;144(11):2420-9.  https://doi.org/10.1017/S0950268816000637  PMID: 27019024 
/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2017.22.43.16-00792
Loading

Data & Media loading...

Submit comment
Close
Comment moderation successfully completed
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error