Pathogenic Leptospira Species Are Widely Disseminated among Wild Rodents in Urban Areas of Guangzhou, Southern China

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a neglected zoonotic disease with global importance caused by pathogenic Leptospira. Rodents are considered the most significant reservoirs for both human and animal infection. Historically, Guangzhou has been an endemic region of human leptospirosis. Although the incidence in humans has significantly decreased in the past decades in China, the epidemiology of pathogenic Leptospira in wild rodents is of great significance for the prevention and control of human leptospirosis. In this study, a total of 296 wild rodents were trapped in urban areas of Guangzhou, in southern China, in 2020. Three pathogenic Leptospira species, i.e., Leptospira interrogans, L. borgpetersenii, and L. kirschneri, were detected by nested PCR in this wild rodent population with an overall prevalence of 9.5%. Additionally, L. interrogans was detected in three of the four captured rodent species, and the relative high prevalence suggests that L. interrogans probably represents the preponderant species of the pathogenic Leptospira circulating in Guangzhou. Taken together, this study reveals a high genetic diversity of pathogenic Leptospira disseminated among wild rodents in the urban areas of Guangzhou and emphasizes that the risk for the occurrence of human leptospirosis in Guangzhou remains high.