Exposure to <i>Leptospira</i> spp. and Associated Risk Factors in the Human, Cattle and Dog Populations in Bhutan
Anou Dreyfus,
Marie-Thérèse Ruf,
Anne Mayer-Scholl,
Theresa Zitzl,
Nadine Loosli,
Nadja Seyhan Bier,
Stephanie Hiereth,
Sebastian Ulrich,
Sven Poppert,
Reinhard K. Straubinger,
John Stenos,
Tshokey Tshokey
Affiliations
Anou Dreyfus
Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Marie-Thérèse Ruf
Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Anne Mayer-Scholl
Department of Biological Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, 10589 Berlin, Germany
Theresa Zitzl
Institute of Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals, Justus Liebig University, 35392 Giessen, Germany
Nadine Loosli
Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Nadja Seyhan Bier
Department of Biological Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, 10589 Berlin, Germany
Stephanie Hiereth
Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Sebastian Ulrich
Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
Sven Poppert
Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Reinhard K. Straubinger
Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany
John Stenos
Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, University Hospital Geelong, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia
Tshokey Tshokey
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, Thimphu 11001, Bhutan
Leptospirosis is a neglected worldwide zoonotic bacterial disease with a high prevalence in subtropical and tropical countries. The prevalence of Leptospira spp. in humans, cattle and dogs is unknown in Bhutan. Therefore, we sought to find out whether humans, cattle or dogs had been infected in the past with leptospires by measuring antibodies in the serum. We therefore collected blood from 864 humans ≥13 years of age, 130 bovines and 84 dogs from different rural and urban areas in Bhutan and tested the serum for antibodies specific for leptospires with a screening of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and a confirmatory microscopic agglutination test (MAT). In humans, 17.6% were seropositive by ELISA and 1.6% by MAT. The seropositivity was stronger in bovines (36.9%) and dogs (47.6%). “Having had a fever recently” (OR 5.2, p = 0.004), “working for the military” (OR 26.6, p = 0.028) and “being unemployed” (OR 12.9, p = 0.041) (reference category = housemaker) were statistically significantly associated with seropositivity when controlled for the effects of other risk factors. However, due to the small number of positive test results, the findings on risk factors should be interpreted with caution. Based on the serogroups found in the three species, dogs could be a source of infection for humans, or dogs and humans are exposed to the same environmental risk factors Clinical leptospirosis in humans and domestic animals should be investigated by testing blood and urine for the presence of leptospires by molecular methods (qPCR).