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Carrier Status of Leptospirosis Among Cattle in S ri L anka: A Zoonotic Threat to Public Health
Author(s) -
Gamage C. D.,
Koizumi N.,
Perera A. K. C.,
Muto M.,
NwaforOkoli C.,
Ranasinghe S.,
Kularatne S. A. M.,
Rajapakse R. P. V. J.,
Kanda K.,
Lee R. B.,
Obayashi Y.,
Ohnishi M.,
Tamashiro H.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
transboundary and emerging diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.392
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1865-1682
pISSN - 1865-1674
DOI - 10.1111/tbed.12014
Subject(s) - leptospirosis , leptospira , veterinary medicine , zoonotic disease , serotype , sri lanka , leptospira interrogans , transmission (telecommunications) , biology , zoonosis , amplicon , polymerase chain reaction , geography , virology , disease , medicine , gene , pathology , biochemistry , tanzania , engineering , environmental planning , electrical engineering
Summary Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease of global importance and one of the notifiable diseases in S ri L anka. Recent studies on human leptospirosis have suggested that the cattle could be one of the important reservoirs for human infection in the country. However, there is a dearth of local information on bovine leptospirosis, including its implications for human transmission. Thus, this study attempted to determine the carrier status of pathogenic L eptospira spp in cattle in S ri L anka. A total of 164 cattle kidney samples were collected from the meat inspection hall in C olombo city during routine inspection procedures conducted by the municipal veterinary surgeons. The DNA was extracted and subjected to nested PCR for the detection of leptospiral flaB gene. Amplicons were sequenced, and phylogenic distances were calculated. Of 164 samples, 20 (12.2%) were positive for fla B ‐ PCR . Sequenced amplicons revealed that L eptospira species were deduced to L . borgpetersenii (10/20, 50%), L . kirschneri (7/20, 35%) and L . interrogans (3/20, 15%). The results indicate that a high proportion of the sampled cattle harbour a variety of pathogenic L eptospira spp, which can serve as important reservoirs for human disease.