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Fulltext Leptospira infection and carrier survey on rats from wet market areas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Noh MA, Masri SN, Zulkapli A, Mohd Ali MR, Amran F

J Vector Borne Dis, 2024 Jan 01;61(1):43-50.
PMID: 38648405 DOI: 10.4103/0972-9062.383644

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Leptospirosis is an important zoonotic infection that has caused significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. This disease is endemic in Malaysia and as a developing tropical country, leptospirosis is concerning as it threatens Malaysian public health and the country's economic sectors. However, there is limited information on leptospirosis in Malaysia, especially regarding leptospiral seroepidemiology among carriers in Malaysia. Therefore, more epidemiological information on the source of the disease and reservoir are needed for better disease control and source intervention. The objectives of this study are to gather information on Leptospira infection and the carrier status of rats captured from selected wet markets of Kuala Lumpur metropolitan city in Malaysia.
METHODS: Live rat trappings were performed in four major wet markets in Kuala Lumpur, namely, Pudu, Chow Kit, Datuk Keramat, and Petaling Street. Animal samplings were performed for 12 months in 2017, where blood and kidney samples were collected and tested for anti-leptospiral antibodies via Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) and pathogenic Leptospira screening via Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification offlaB gene.
RESULTS: MAT showed that 34.7% (n = 50/144) of the captured rats were positive for anti-leptospiral antibody of which the most prominent serovar was Malaya followed by a local strain, IMR LEP 175. In parallel, 50 rats were also positive for pathogenic Leptospira DNA.
INTERPRETATION CONCLUSION: This study showed that there are persistent Leptospira infections among rats in Kuala Lumpur wet markets and these rats are important reservoir hosts for the bacteria.

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Reservoirs/microbiology
Fulltext House Sparrows Do Not Constitute a Significant Salmonella Typhimurium Reservoir across Urban Gradients in Flanders, Belgium

Rouffaer LO, Lens L, Haesendonck R, Teyssier A, Hudin NS, Strubbe D, et al.

PLoS One, 2016;11(5):e0155366.
PMID: 27168186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155366

In recent decades major declines in urban house sparrow (Passer domesticus) populations have been observed in north-western European cities, whereas suburban and rural house sparrow populations have remained relatively stable or are recovering from previous declines. Differential exposure to avian pathogens known to cause epidemics in house sparrows may in part explain this spatial pattern of declines. Here we investigate the potential effect of urbanization on the development of a bacterial pathogen reservoir in free-ranging house sparrows. This was achieved by comparing the prevalence of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serotype Typhimurium in 364 apparently healthy house sparrows captured in urban, suburban and rural regions across Flanders, Belgium between September 2013 and March 2014. In addition 12 dead birds, received from bird rescue centers, were necropsied. The apparent absence of Salmonella Typhimurium in fecal samples of healthy birds, and the identification of only one house sparrow seropositive for Salmonella spp., suggests that during the winter of 2013-2014 these birds did not represent any considerable Salmonella Typhimurium reservoir in Belgium and thus may be considered naïve hosts, susceptible to clinical infection. This susceptibility is demonstrated by the isolation of two different Salmonella Typhimurium strains from two of the deceased house sparrows: one DT99, typically associated with disease in pigeons, and one DT195, previously associated with a passerine decline. The apparent absence (prevalence: <1.3%) of a reservoir in healthy house sparrows and the association of infection with clinical disease suggests that the impact of Salmonella Typhimurium on house sparrows is largely driven by the risk of exogenous exposure to pathogenic Salmonella Typhimurium strains. However, no inference could be made on a causal relationship between Salmonella infection and the observed house sparrow population declines.

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Reservoirs/microbiology
Molecular investigation of Anaplasma spp. in domestic and wildlife animals in Peninsular Malaysia

Koh FX, Panchadcharam C, Sitam FT, Tay ST

Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports, 2018 08;13:141-147.
PMID: 31014863 DOI: 10.1016/j.vprsr.2018.05.006

Anaplasma spp. are Gram-negative obligate intracellular, tick-borne bacteria which are of medical and veterinary importance. Little information is available on Anaplasma infection affecting domestic and wildlife animals in Malaysia. This study investigated the presence of Anaplasma spp. in the blood samples of domestic and wildlife animals in Peninsular Malaysia, using polymerase chain reaction (EHR-PCR) assays targeting the 16S rRNA gene of Anaplasmataceae. High detection rates (60.7% and 59.0%, respectively) of Anaplasma DNA were noted in 224 cattle (Bos taurus) and 78 deer (77 Rusa timorensis and one Rusa unicolor) investigated in this study. Of the 60 amplified fragments obtained for sequence analysis, Anaplasma marginale was exclusively detected in cattle while Anaplasma platys/Anaplasma phagocytophilum was predominantly detected in the deer. Based on sequence analyses of the longer fragment of the 16S rRNA gene (approximately 1000 bp), the occurrence of A. marginale, Anaplasma capra and Candidatus Anaplasma camelii in cattle, Candidatus A. camelii in deer and Anaplasma bovis in a goat was identified in this study. To assess whether animals were infected with more than one species of Anaplasma, nested amplification of A. phagocytophilum, A. bovis and Ehrlichia chaffeensis DNA was performed for 33 animal samples initially screened positive for Anaplasmataceae. No amplification of E. chaffeensis DNA was obtained from animals investigated. BLAST analyses of the 16S rDNA sequences from three deer (R. timorensis), a buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) and a cow (B. taurus) reveal similarity with that of Candidatus Anaplasma boleense strain (GenBank accession no.: KX987335). Sequence analyses of the partial gene fragments of major surface protein (msp4) gene from two deer (R. timorensis) and a monitor lizard (Varanus salvator) show the detection of a strain highly similar (99%) to that of A. phagocytophilum strain ZJ-China (EU008082). The findings in this study show the occurrence of various Anaplasma species including those newly reported species in Malaysian domestic and wildlife animals. The role of these animals as reservoirs/maintenance hosts for Anaplasma infection are yet to be determined.

Matched MeSH terms: Disease Reservoirs/microbiology

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