Objective: To analyze the incidence of leptospirosis in Fujian province from 2015 to 2020 and provide the scientific evidences for the risk assessment, prevention and control of leptospirosis. Methods: The incidence data of leptospirosis in Fujian during 2015-2020 were collected from China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention for a descriptive analysis, and software ArcGIS 10.3.1 was used for spatial autocorrelation analysis, and rats were captured in 17 surveillance areas during the same period, and the rat organs were collected for pathogen culture, the level of Leptospira antibody was detected in serum samples of rats, healthy population and the serum samples of patients sent by the hospitals. The infection status of Leptospira in human and rats were analyzed. Results: The incidence of leptospirosis in Fujian showed a downward trend from 2015 to 2020. A total of 176 cases of leptospirosis were reported. There were obvious seasonality and bimodal distribution. The majority of cases were farmers, accounting for 49.43% (87/176). Most cases were aged 30-69 years (85.80%, 151/176). The male to female ratio of the cases was 3.51∶1 (137∶39). Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that leptospirosis had high or low clustering areas. From 2015 to 2020, the average capture rate of rats in 17 surveillance areas was 6.96% (1 519/21 838), Rattus losea, Rattus flavipectus and Niviventer fulvescens were the main species. The average positive rate of Leptospira antibody in rats was 28.64% (252/880). Java and Autumnalis were the predominant serogroups, accounting for 56.75% (143/252) and 17.46% (44/252), respectively. The average positive rate of Leptospira antibody in healthy population was 16.13% (254/1 575), and Autumnalis and Australis were the predominant serogroups, accounting for 71.65% (182/254). The confirmation rate of leptospirosis in patient serum samples sent by the hospitals was 2.23% (188/8 431), Autumnalis (56.38%, 106/188) and Hebdomadis (19.68%, 37/188) were the major serogroups. Conclusions: The incidence of leptospirosis in Fujian showed a downward trend from 2015 to 2020, there were obvious area clustering and seasonality. The high clustering areas were mainly distributed in northern, western and central Fujian. Java and Autumnalis were the predominant serogroups in rats. The infection rate in healthy population decreased year by year. Autumnalis and Hebdomadis were the main serogroups in population in Fujian.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Leptospira ; Leptospirosis/epidemiology* ; Male ; Rats ; Serogroup

OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of impoundment and active public health interventions on rodent populations and rodent-borne diseases in the Three Gorges reservoir region from 1997 to 2012.

METHODSSurveillance data from 1997 to 2012 were extracted from the Public Health Surveillance System of The Three Gorges established in 1997. Temporal changes in the incidences of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and leptospirosis, rodent density, pathogen-carrying rates, and their correlations were analyzed.

RESULTSThe average indoor and outdoor rodent densities decreased overall from 1997 to 2012. The average densities decreased by 47.72% (from 4.38% to 2.29%) and 39.68% (from 4.41% to 2.66%), respectively, after impoundment (2003-2012) compared with before impoundment (1997-2002). The average annual incidence rates of HFRS and leptospirosis were 0.29/100,000 and 0.52/100,000, respectively, and decreased by 85.74% (from 0.68/100,000 to 0.10/100,000) and 95.73% (from 1.47/100,000 to 0.065/100,000), respectively, after impoundment compared with before impoundment. Incidences of HFRS and leptospirosis appear to be positively correlated with rodent density in the reservoir area.

CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrated that rodent density and incidences of rodent-borne diseases decreased and were maintained at low levels during construction of the Three Gorges dam. Measures that reduce rodent population densities could be effective in controlling rodent-borne diseases during large-scale hydraulic engineering construction.

Animal Distribution ; Animals ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Reservoirs ; Hantavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; veterinary ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; virology ; Population Density ; Rodent Diseases ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; virology ; Rodentia ; Seasons ; Time Factors ; Water Supply ; Zoonoses

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Humans ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; mortality ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Rain ; Time Factors ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo identify and type three leptospires isolated from Rattus tanezumi in Guizhou Province by using three molecular techniques (PFGE, MLVA, and MLST), reveal the molecular characteristic of causative agents of local leptospirosis and evaluate these three molecular methods based on their detection resolution and efficiency.

METHODSThree Leptospira strains were isolated from the kidney of Rattus tanezumi and cultured with EMJH medium. PFGE, MLVA, and MLST assays were applied to type the three strains isolated from Rattus tanezumi in Guizhou Province.

RESULTSPFGE, MLVA, and MLST typing showed that the three leptospiral isolates matched with leptospiral serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae serovar Lai. The findings of the genotyping methods were consistent. MLVA and MLST defined genotypes, whereas PFGE allowed the recognition of additional subgroups within the genotypes, and the findings of molecular typing were also consistent with those of traditional techniques.

CONCLUSIONThree leptospiral isolates from Guizhou Province matched with leptospiral serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae serovar Lai, and PFGE, MLVA, and MLST, as reliable molecular techniques for identifying and typing of Leptospira interrogans, would contribute to the active surveillance, outbreak investigation and source tracking for leptospirosis in Guizhou Province.

Animals ; China ; epidemiology ; DNA, Bacterial ; classification ; genetics ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Genotype ; Leptospira interrogans ; classification ; genetics ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; veterinary ; Phylogeny ; Rats

OBJECTIVETo detect leptospiral antibodies by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) in north-east of Iran.

METHODSThis study was conducted to evaluate prevalence of human leptospiral infections by MAT, using six current reference strains of Leptospira interrogans in north-east of Iran. A total of 285 serum samples were collected from three north-east provinces of Iran, from December, 2009 to June, 2010.

RESULTSAntibodies were detected at least against one serovar of Leptospira interrogans in 45 sera (15.79 %) among 285 samples at a dilution 1:100 or greater. Positive titers against more than one serovar were detected in 24 sera of the positive samples. Therefore, there were 75 positive reactions against different serovar of Leptospira interrogans. Positive titers were recorded against serovar icterohaemorrhagiae (31 samples), hardjo (26 samples), grippotyphosa (7 samples), pomona (5 samples), canicola (4 samples) and ballum (2 sample).

CONCLUSIONSIn present study the most prevalent (Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae) and the least prevalent (Leptospira ballum) serovar are different from previous studies. Maybe, species and prevalence of serovars change during the time in one area and between regions.

Agglutination Tests ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; immunology ; Humans ; Iran ; epidemiology ; Leptospira ; classification ; immunology ; Leptospira interrogans ; immunology ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; immunology ; Prevalence ; Serogroup

OBJECTIVES: Infectious diseases are known to be affected by climate change. We investigated if the infectious diseases were related to meteorological factors in Korea. METHODS: Scrub typhus, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), leptospirosis, malaria and Vibrio vulnificus sepsis among the National Notifiable Infectious Diseases were selected as the climate change-related infectious diseases. Temperature, relative humidity and precipitation were used as meteorological factors. The study period was from 2001 through 2008. We examined the seasonality of the diseases and those correlations with meteorological factors. We also analyzed the correlations between the incidences of the diseases during the outbreak periods and monthly meteorological factors in the hyper-endemic regions. RESULTS: All of the investigated diseases showed strong seasonality; malaria and V. vulnificus sepsis were prevalent in summer and scrub typhus, HFRS and leptospirosis were prevalent in the autumn. There were significant correlations between the monthly numbers of cases and all the meteorological factors for malaria and V. vulnificus sepsis, but there were no correlation for the other diseases. However, the incidence of scrub typhus in hyper-endemic region during the outbreak period was positively correlated with temperature and humidity during the summer. The incidences of HFRS and leptospirosis had positive correlations with precipitation in November and temperature and humidity in February, respectively. V. vulnificus sepsis showed positive correlations with precipitation in April/May/July. CONCLUSIONS: In Korea, the incidences of the infectious diseases were correlated with meteorological factors, and this implies that the incidences could be influenced by climate change.
Adult ; Aged ; Climate ; Female ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome/*epidemiology ; Humans ; Leptospirosis/*epidemiology ; Malaria/*epidemiology ; Male ; Meteorological Concepts ; Middle Aged ; Occupations ; Republic of Korea ; Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever/*epidemiology ; Seasons ; Vibrio Infections/*epidemiology

Adult ; Aged ; Disease Outbreaks ; Female ; Humans ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the infection of leptospirosa of host animals and the immune level of healthy population in flood areas. METHODS: Korth culture was used to culture leptospira for rodent kidney and oxen urine sample. The serogroups of leptospira and leptospira antibody were tested by microscopic agglutination test (MAT). RESULTS: In flood regions, draw-near-flood region, and new migration region, rodent density was 6.95%, 6.28%, and 8.67%, respectively. The positive rates of rodent with leptospira was 4.63%, 1.35%, and 3.13%, respectively. Leptospira positive rates of oxen urine were 5.88%, 5.98%, and 1.75%, respectively. The main serogroup of leptospira was Icterhamorrhagic and Canicola serogroup. The positive rates of leptospirosa antibody in healthy population was 45.91%, 62.30%, and 58.67%in these 3 regions respectively, which was significantly higher than the average level in China. The dominant serogroups of leptospira in health population were icterhamorrhagic, autumnalis, canicola, pomona and bataviae. The positive rate of antibody had no difference among different age groups. CONCLUSION The main host animals are rodents and oxen infected with leptospira and the positive rate of leptospira antibody is high in healthy population in the study area. The dominant serogroups in host animals are similar to that in healthy population, which is mostly icterhaemorrhagic.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; blood ; urine ; Cattle ; China ; epidemiology ; Disasters ; Floods ; Humans ; Leptospira interrogans ; immunology ; isolation & purification ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Rats ; Seroepidemiologic Studies

OBJECTIVETo analyze the changes of leptospirosis epidemic characteristics before and after the Phase 2 'reservoir store water project' in Chongqing section of the Three Gorges dam area and to provide prevention, control and intervention measures to prevent the spread of leptospirosis from infectious focus to the Three Gorges dam area and downstream region of Changjiang River.

METHODSChangshou district and Fengdu county were selected as surveillance sites. We monitored the source of infection through examining the serum antibody of patients, healthy groups together with farm cattle measured by micro agglutination test (MAT).

RESULTSporadic cases were reported before and after the storage of water in the reservoir. There was no significant difference found between mouse density before and after the Phase 2 reservoir project (chi2 = 1.00, P > 0.05). The main species of rat were Sewer rat before and Insectivorea after the storage of water. The germ-carrying rate of rats was 1.72% (10/583) and positive carrying rate of rats was 16.51% (18/109) when using PCR. Results showed a significant difference when comparing it to culture method (chi2 = 51.80, P < 0.01). Positive rate of leoptopirosis appeared in the serum of patients was 73.33% (33/45) with the major serum group as the Australia group. The rate of infection among the healthy group was 26.84% (233/868). There was significant difference seen between the serum antibody positive rate of epidemic prophase (23.85%) and epidemic anaphase (29.86%) of the healthy group (chi2 = 3.99, P < 0.05). The GMRT of ox serum antibody of leoptopirosis was 29.97 with Bailen group as the predominant microbial population.

CONCLUSIONThere was no epidemics of leptopirosis occurred in the Three Gorges dam area. There was no significant difference between mouse density before and after the storage of water in the reservoir. However, the major species of rats had a change. The natural infection level of people living in the dam area was low, but there existed potential of leoptopirosis outbreak.

Animals ; China ; Humans ; Leptospira ; genetics ; isolation & purification ; Leptospirosis ; epidemiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Population Surveillance ; Rats ; microbiology ; Rivers ; Water Supply

Korea has experienced sporadic cases or outbreaks of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases since the 1980s. Confirmed outbreaks have included leptospirosis and legionellosis in 1984, HIV infection in 1985, enterohemorrhagic E-coli infection in 1998, staphylococcus aureus infection with decreased vancomycin susceptibility in 1999, brucellosis in 2002, and botulism in 2003. Korea has also suffered from reemerging diseases such as vivax malaria along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) since 1993. Owing to globalization, imported cases of diarrheal diseases, malaria, and dengue have been increasing. In addition, the overall incidence of acute infectious diseases such as shigellosis, scrub typhus, and mumps, which had been decreasing since 1970 until the late 1990s, began to increase again after the late 1990s. The range of emerging and reemerging diseases poses serious public health threats to the public. The Korean government has been striving to build capacity to detect and respond to these infectious disease threats in a timely manner since the late 1990s. For this, the government revised the Communicable Disease Prevention Law, reorganized the government structure for communicable disease control, and developed human resources through field epidemiology and various other training programs. SARS and highly pathogenic avian influenza provided momentum to accelerate these endeavors. Korea has thus far achieved significant improvements in the field of infectious disease surveillance. There are, however, gaps that need to be addressed including insufficient capacity for disease surveillance and response for emerging infectious disease at the local government level, inadequate operation of various surveillance systems, insufficient integration among surveillance systems, and low participation rate for notification among physicians. Therefore, the Korean government plans to improve infectious disease surveillance by implementing the following procedures: establishment of a web-based reporting system, integration of EDI and laboratory surveillance systems, extension of the electronic reporting system to the private sector, continuous development of human resources to build capacity, and enhancement of collaboration with the private sector.
Animals ; Botulism ; Brucellosis ; Communicable Disease Control ; Communicable Diseases* ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Cooperative Behavior ; Dengue ; Disease Outbreaks ; Dysentery, Bacillary ; Education ; Epidemiology ; HIV Infections ; Humans ; Incidence ; Influenza in Birds ; Internationality ; Jurisprudence ; Korea* ; Legionellosis ; Leptospirosis ; Local Government ; Malaria ; Malaria, Vivax ; Mumps ; Private Sector ; Public Health ; Scrub Typhus ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Vancomycin