Serovar diversity of Leptospira sp. infecting wild rodents in Sarawak, Malaysia
Leptopsirosis is a zoonotic disease with global distribution and rodents, in particular rats, have been identified as the main reservoir host. A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of antibodies against Leptospira sp. in wild rodents caught in selected areas of Sibu, Sarikei and Kapit...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/19849/ http://ir.unimas.my/19849/ http://ir.unimas.my/19849/1/Serovar%20diversity%20of%20Leptospira%20sp.%20infecting%20wild%20rodents%20%28abstrak%29.pdf |
| Summary: | Leptopsirosis is a zoonotic disease with global distribution and rodents, in particular
rats, have been identified as the main reservoir host. A study was conducted to determine the
prevalence of antibodies against Leptospira sp. in wild rodents caught in selected areas of
Sibu, Sarikei and Kapit in Sarawak during the period of July 2011 to May 2014. In total, 241
sera samples were collected from rodents caught from these three administrative divisions in
Sarawak. Ninety-eight rodents (40.7%) were positive with antibody titre >1:50 by microscopic
agglutination test (MAT) against 13 out of 20 common local leptospiral serovars tested. Sera
of rodents caught in Sibu, Kapit and Sarikei divisions were positive at 43.9%, 37.5% and 36.4%,
respectively. The top five serovars detected were: Autumnalis (25.5%), Tarassovi (23.5%),
Bataviae (15.3%), Hebdomadis (8.2%) and Celledoni (7.2%). The main species of rodent positive
for antibodies against Leptopsira sp. were Sundamys muelleri (50.0%), Rattus rattus (37.5%),
Callociurus notatus (35.6%) and Rattus exulans (32.6%). This study indicates that leptospiral
antibodies are prevalent amongst wild rodents in central Sarawak, which could be translated
as high leptospiral carriage. The close interaction that exists between the local community
and the environment could potentially propagate the transmission of Leptospira sp. to human
in these areas. This study also provided essential information about local circulating Leptospira
serovars, which could be useful for eventual prevention measures in disease transmission |
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