Detection of leptospira and chlamydia in rodents in China / y Szeto Chun Wai

Abstract

Rodentia is the most diversified order of mammals which are natural reservoirs for bacterial pathogens such as Leptospira, Rickettsia akari, Bartonella, Chlamydiales etc. It is also the important source of transmission of leptospirosis to human. However, only a few epidemiological studies had been done for leptospiral and chlamydial infections in rodents in Hong Kong. In this study, molecular epidemiological studies had been performed to investigate the prevalence of leptospiral and chlamydial infections in rodents in Hong Kong and Guangdong, China. Kidney and/or Spleen tissues of 571 street rodents from Hong Kong, 54 hamsters from Hong Kong pet shops and 150 rodents from restaurants and pig farms at Guangdong, China were detected for Chlamydiales and Leptospira by PCR. Five (0.1%)and one(0.7%) spleen samples, from Norway rats in Hong Kong and Asian rat in Guangdong, China respectively, were detected for Chlamydiales. Chlamydiales recovered in these rodents were most closely related to the families Parachlamydiaceae and Candidatus Parilichlamydiaceae. 143 kidney (25.0%) and 6 spleen (1.1%) samples from 136 Norway rats and 13 roof rats were positive for Leptospira in Hong Kong. Leptospira-positive rodents were from different districts in Hong Kong and were most prevalent in Wong Tai Sin district (41.4%). Pathogenic L. interrogans and L. borgpetersenii were found in rodents collected in Hong Kong and Guangdong, China. The widely distributed Leptospira-positive rodents in Hong Kong and Guangdong, China suggested the risk of rodent-borne diseases in Hong Kong in our population.