New host species for Leptospira borgpetersenii and Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni

LOFFLER, SYLVIA GRUNE; BELDOMENICO, PABLO MARTIN; GAMIETEA, IGNACIO; BELDOMENICO, PABLO MARTIN; GAMIETEA, IGNACIO; BRIHUEGA, BIBIANA FEL; COLOMBO, VALERIA CAROLINA; BRIHUEGA, BIBIANA FEL; COLOMBO, VALERIA CAROLINA; LOFFLER, SYLVIA GRUNE

VETERINARY MICROBIOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2018 vol. 215 p. 90 - 92

0378-1135

We investigated the presence of infection by Leptospira spp. in an assembly of Sigmodontinae rodents from theParaná Delta, Argentina. Rodents were captured in places with natural grassland, implanted forest, with andwithout raising cattle and in sites prone and not prone to flooding. The DNA was amplified from cultured isolatesby PCR and Leptospira spp. strains were genotyped using Multiple ? Locus Variable Number Tandem RepeatAnalysis (MLVA). We isolated Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni from Oligoryzomys nigripes, Leptospiraborgpetersenii from Scapteromys aquaticus and Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae from Akodonazarae. The zoonotic Leptospira isolated and genotyped from O. nigripes and S. aquaticus are the first reports fromthese species. The geographic range of these rodent species include, in addition to Argentina, the countries ofParaguay, Uruguay and Brazil, suggesting that these rodents might be involved in the transmission of spirochetesin other regions. Human and animal health care professionals should be alert to the potential occurrence ofleptospirosis in areas where these rodent species are present.