Leptospirosis in the West of Scotland

Abstract

Of 73 patients admitted to hospitals in the West of Scotland suffering from clinical leptospirosis during the 10 years 1960–69, 63 (86%) suffered from infection by strains of the serogroup canicola; of these, 22 (34%) were piggery workers employed on infected premises. In 16 other patients infected by canicola the presumed source of infection was a dog, while in the remaining 25 the source was unknown. Ten patients (14%) were infected by strains of the serogroup icterohaemorrhagiae, 9 with a history of exposure to rats and one a pig farmer. These observations, with the results of a serological survey to detect past infection, indicate that in the West of Scotland canicola fever is an occupational risk in persons whose work involves continuous close contact with pigs. The risk is probably greater in farms fattening purchased stock than in breeding farms. One farm, responsible for more than half of the pig-transmitted canicola illnesses, illustrates the persistence for many years of enzootic leptospirosis. There is no evidence of pig-transmitted canicola infection in England and Wales. In common with England and Wales, there is evidence in Scotland that infection by leptospirae of the serogroup hebdomadis is an occupational risk in dairy farmers.