Seroprevalence of Leptospira infection in occupational risk groups in North Khorasan province, Iran
Seyed-Ahmad Hashemi,
Kourosh Arzamani,
Gholamreza Abdollahpour,
Nazanin Beheshti,
Mohammad Alavinia,
Amir Azimian,
Vasantha Kumari Neela,
Alex van Belkum,
Hamed Ghasemzadeh-moghaddam
Affiliations
Seyed-Ahmad Hashemi
Vector-borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
Kourosh Arzamani
Vector-borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
Gholamreza Abdollahpour
Leptospira Research Laboratory, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Nazanin Beheshti
School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
Mohammad Alavinia
Vector-borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; Toronto Rehabilitation Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
Amir Azimian
School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
Vasantha Kumari Neela
Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia
Alex van Belkum
Open Innovation & Partnerships, BioMerieux, Route de Port Michaud, 38390, La Balme Les Grottes, France
Hamed Ghasemzadeh-moghaddam
Vector-borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; School of Medicine, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; Corresponding author.
Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic bacterial disease caused by Leptospira spp. Earlier studies from North Khorasan province (Iran) reported the presence of Leptospira in wild canines and rodents. To date, there is no data on the seroprevalence of leptospirosis among humans in this province. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of human leptospiral infection among people with different occupations. The study was conducted in urban and rural areas of the province. Among the serum samples collected from 278 subjects, 3 (1.1%) showed positive reaction with titer of 1:100 by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Positive reactions were detected against Leptospira interrogans Canicola and L. interrogans icterohemorrhagic and all these samples were from livestock farmers (n = 3/106, 2.7%). The current study revealed that, though Leptospira infection is low in North Khorasan province, regular monitoring of the livestock and the farmers are important.
