Leptospira Diversity in Animals and Humans in Tahiti, French Polynesia

Overview

Journal PLoS Negl Trop Dis

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Tropical Medicine

Date 2017 Jun 29

PMID 28658269

Citations 16

Authors

Vanina Guernier

Vaea Richard

Tuxuan Nhan

Eline Rouault

Anita Tessier

Didier Musso

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Leptospirosis is a highly endemic bacterial zoonosis in French Polynesia (FP). Nevertheless, data on the epidemiology of leptospirosis in FP are scarce. We conducted molecular studies on Leptospira isolated from humans and the potential main animal reservoirs in order to identify the most likely sources for human infection.

Methodology/principal Findings: Wild rats (n = 113), farm pigs (n = 181) and domestic dogs (n = 4) were screened for Leptospira infection in Tahiti, the most populated island in FP. Positive samples were genotyped and compared to Leptospira isolated from human cases throughout FP (n = 51), using secY, 16S and LipL32 sequencing, and MLST analysis. Leptospira DNA was detected in 20.4% of rats and 26.5% of pigs. We identified two Leptospira species and three sequence types (STs) in animals and humans: Leptospira interrogans ST140 in pigs only and L. interrogans ST17 and Leptospira borgpetersenii ST149 in humans and rats. Overall, L. interrogans was the dominant species and grouped into four clades: one clade including a human case only, two clades including human cases and dogs, and one clade including human cases and rats. All except one pig sample showed a unique L. interrogans (secY) genotype distinct from those isolated from humans, rats and dogs. Moreover, LipL32 sequencing allowed the detection of an additional Leptospira genotype in pigs, clearly distinct from the previous ones.

Conclusions/significance: Our data confirm rats as a major potential source for human leptospirosis in FP. By contrast to what was expected, farm pigs did not seem to be a major reservoir for the Leptospira genotypes identified in human patients. Thus, further investigations will be required to determine their significance in leptospirosis transmission in FP.

Citing Articles

Domestic dogs in indigenous Amazonian communities: Key players in Leptospira cycling and transmission?.

Guzman D, Diaz E, Saenz C, Alvarez H, Cueva R, Zapata-Rios G PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024; 18(4):e0011671.

PMID: 38568912 PMC: 10990217. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011671.

Molecular Epidemiology of Pathogenic spp. Infecting Dogs in Latin America.

Di Azevedo M, Aymee L, Dos Santos Baptista Borges A, Lilenbaum W Animals (Basel). 2023; 13(15).

PMID: 37570231 PMC: 10417440. DOI: 10.3390/ani13152422.

Core genome sequencing and genotyping of Leptospira interrogans in clinical samples by target capture sequencing.

Grillova L, Cokelaer T, Mariet J, Pipoli da Fonseca J, Picardeau M BMC Infect Dis. 2023; 23(1):157.

PMID: 36918832 PMC: 10012794. DOI: 10.1186/s12879-023-08126-x.

Pathogenic Infections in Hubei Province, Central China.

Xu J, Chen J, Xiong C, Qin L, Hu B, Liu M Microorganisms. 2023; 11(1).

PMID: 36677392 PMC: 9865294. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms11010099.

Diversity of Leptospira spp. in bats and rodents from Papua New Guinea.

Javati S, Guernier-Cambert V, Jonduo M, Robby S, Kimopa J, Maure T Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022; 69(6):4048-4054.

PMID: 36196768 PMC: 10092571. DOI: 10.1111/tbed.14725.

References

Victoria B, Ahmed A, Zuerner R, Ahmed N, Bulach D, Quinteiro J . Conservation of the S10-spc-alpha locus within otherwise highly plastic genomes provides phylogenetic insight into the genus Leptospira. PLoS One. 2008; 3(7):e2752. PMC: 2481283. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002752. View

Lau C, Clements A, Skelly C, Dobson A, Smythe L, Weinstein P . Leptospirosis in American Samoa--estimating and mapping risk using environmental data. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012; 6(5):e1669. PMC: 3362644. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001669. View

GENDRON Y, Prieur J, Gaufroy X, Gras C . [Leptospirosis in French Polynesia: 120 case reports]. Med Trop (Mars). 1992; 52(1):21-7. View

Nhan T, Bonnieux E, Rovery C, De Pina J, Musso D . Fatal leptospirosis and chikungunya co-infection: Do not forget leptospirosis during chikungunya outbreaks. IDCases. 2016; 5:12-4. PMC: 4925901. DOI: 10.1016/j.idcr.2016.06.003. View

Dietrich M, Wilkinson D, Soarimalala V, Goodman S, Dellagi K, Tortosa P . Diversification of an emerging pathogen in a biodiversity hotspot: Leptospira in endemic small mammals of Madagascar. Mol Ecol. 2014; 23(11):2783-96. DOI: 10.1111/mec.12777. View

Levett P . Leptospirosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2001; 14(2):296-326. PMC: 88975. DOI: 10.1128/CMR.14.2.296-326.2001. View

Murray G . The lipoprotein LipL32, an enigma of leptospiral biology. Vet Microbiol. 2012; 162(2-4):305-314. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2012.11.005. View

Marshall R, Manktelow B . Fifty years of leptospirosis research in New Zealand: a perspective. N Z Vet J. 2005; 50(3 Suppl):61-3. DOI: 10.1080/00480169.2002.36270. View

Fouts D, Matthias M, Adhikarla H, Adler B, Amorim-Santos L, Berg D . What Makes a Bacterial Species Pathogenic?:Comparative Genomic Analysis of the Genus Leptospira. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016; 10(2):e0004403. PMC: 4758666. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004403. View

10.

Stoddard R, Gee J, Wilkins P, McCaustland K, Hoffmaster A . Detection of pathogenic Leptospira spp. through TaqMan polymerase chain reaction targeting the LipL32 gene. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2009; 64(3):247-55. DOI: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2009.03.014. View

11.

Waggoner J, Balassiano I, Mohamed-Hadley A, Vital-Brazil J, Sahoo M, Pinsky B . Reverse-Transcriptase PCR Detection of Leptospira: Absence of Agreement with Single-Specimen Microscopic Agglutination Testing. PLoS One. 2015; 10(7):e0132988. PMC: 4503744. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0132988. View

12.

Barragan V, Chiriboga J, Miller E, Olivas S, Birdsell D, Hepp C . High Leptospira Diversity in Animals and Humans Complicates the Search for Common Reservoirs of Human Disease in Rural Ecuador. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016; 10(9):e0004990. PMC: 5021363. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004990. View

13.

Smythe L, Smith I, Smith G, Dohnt M, Symonds M, Barnett L . A quantitative PCR (TaqMan) assay for pathogenic Leptospira spp. BMC Infect Dis. 2002; 2:13. PMC: 117785. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2334-2-13. View

14.

Nalam K, Ahmed A, Devi S, Francalacci P, Baig M, Sechi L . Genetic affinities within a large global collection of pathogenic Leptospira: implications for strain identification and molecular epidemiology. PLoS One. 2010; 5(8):e12637. PMC: 2929200. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012637. View

15.

Merien 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. PMC: 265482. DOI: 10.1128/jcm.30.9.2219-2224.1992. View

16.

Perez J, Goarant C . Rapid Leptospira identification by direct sequencing of the diagnostic PCR products in New Caledonia. BMC Microbiol. 2010; 10:325. PMC: 3022709. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-10-325. View

17.

Berlioz-Arthaud A, Kiedrzynski T, Singh N, Yvon J, Roualen G, Coudert C . Multicentre survey of incidence and public health impact of leptospirosis in the Western Pacific. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg. 2007; 101(7):714-21. DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2007.02.022. View

18.

Pappas G, Papadimitriou P, Siozopoulou V, Christou L, Akritidis N . The globalization of leptospirosis: worldwide incidence trends. Int J Infect Dis. 2007; 12(4):351-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2007.09.011. View

19.

Kurilung A, Chanchaithong P, Lugsomya K, Niyomtham W, Wuthiekanun V, Prapasarakul N . Molecular detection and isolation of pathogenic Leptospira from asymptomatic humans, domestic animals and water sources in Nan province, a rural area of Thailand. Res Vet Sci. 2017; 115:146-154. DOI: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2017.03.017. View

20.

Ahmed N, Devi S, Valverde M, Vijayachari P, Machangu R, Ellis W . Multilocus sequence typing method for identification and genotypic classification of pathogenic Leptospira species. Ann Clin Microbiol Antimicrob. 2006; 5:28. PMC: 1664579. DOI: 10.1186/1476-0711-5-28. View