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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 81(5), 2009, pp. 906-910
doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0195;
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Prevalence of Leptospira spp. in Urban Rodents from a Groceries Trade Center of Medellín, Colombia

Piedad Agudelo-Flórez, Andrés F. Londoño, Víctor H. Quiroz, Juan C. Ángel, Natalí Moreno, Erica T. Loaiza, Luis F. Muñoz, AND Juan D. Rodas*
Grupo de Investigación Medicina Tropical, Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical–Universidad CES, Colombia, Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias, "Centauro," Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia

Leptospirosis is a widely distributed zoonosis, and rats are its most common source of infection. Our goal was to determine the frequency for Leptospira infection in rodents in a farmers market in the city of Medellin. We performed a descriptive transversal study sampling 254 rodents. Rodents were bled and killed, and kidneys samples were taken. Supernatants of macerated kidneys were cultured on Fletcher medium. Microagglutination tests (MATs) with 11 serovars were also carried out in rat serum, and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specific for pathogenic species was used to test each bacterial culture. All animals were identified as Rattus norvegicus; 25% and 20% were positive by MAT and culture, respectively. PCR tests of 12 isolates were positive for pathogenic serovars, and 4 of them were confirmed as L. interrogans by sequencing. These data show the role of this natural carrier and shedder of pathogenic leptospires in the epidemiology of urban leptospirosis in Colombia.

Received April 16, 2009. Accepted for publication July 12, 2009.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Dr. Paul Levett for the sequences of leptospiral isolates and Dr. Thomas Yuill for his important suggestions to this manuscript.

Financial Support: This work was supported by the CODI EO 1206 (Comité para el Desarrollo de la Investigación, Universidad de Antioquia) and the ICMT-CES (Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical–CES).

* Address correspondence to Juan D. Rodas, Sede de Investigación Universitaria (SIU) T2–233, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 62 52-59, Medellín, Colombia. E-mail: juandavid.rodas{at}gmail.com

Authors’ addresses: Piedad Agudelo-Flórez and Natalí Moreno, Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical–CES, Cra 43A No 52 Sur-99, Sabaneta, Colombia, Tel: 574-305-3500, Fax: 574-301-4258, E-mails: pagudelo{at}ces.edu.co and natalimoreno{at}hotmail.com. Andrés F. Londoño, Víctor H. Quiroz, Juan C. Ángel, Erica T. Loaiza, Luis F. Muñoz, and Juan D. Rodas, Sede de Investigación Universitaria (SIU) T2–233, Universidad de Antioquia, Calle 62 52-59, Medellín, Colombia, Tel: 574-219-6593, Fax: 574-219-9104, E-mails: pipelb{at}gmail.com, pionopsitta1{at}yahoo.com.mx, cangelca13{at}hotmail.com, etloaiza{at}gmail.com, luisfemu{at}gmail.com, and juandavid.rodas{at}gmail.com.






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Copyright © 2009 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.