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Citation for Study 27108

Citation title: "Leptospira in river and soil in a highly endemic area of Ecuador.".

Study name: "Leptospira in river and soil in a highly endemic area of Ecuador.".

This study is part of submission 27108 (Status: Published).

Citation

Miller E., Barragan V.A., Chiriboga J., Weddell C., Luna L., Jim?nez D.J., Aleman J., Mihaljevic J.R., Olivas S., Marks J., Izurieta R., Nieto N., Keim P., Trueba G., Caporaso J., & Pearson T. 2020. Leptospira in river and soil in a highly endemic area of Ecuador. BMC Microbiology, .

Authors

• Miller E.
• Barragan V.A. (submitter) 593999453618
• Chiriboga J.
• Weddell C.
• Luna L.
• Jim?nez D.J.
• Aleman J.
• Mihaljevic J.R.
• Olivas S.
• Marks J.
• Izurieta R.
• Nieto N.
• Keim P.
• Trueba G.
• Caporaso J.
• Pearson T. 928-523-4290

Abstract

Abstract Background Leptospira are shed into the environment via urine of infected animals. Rivers are thought to be an important risk factor for transmission to humans, though much is unknown about the types of environment or characteristics that favor survival. To address this, we screened for Leptospira DNA in two rivers in rural Ecuador where Leptospirosis is endemic. Results We collected 112 longitudinal samples and recorded pH, temperature, river depth, precipitation, and dissolved oxygen. We also performed a series of three experiments designed to provide insight into Leptospira presence in the soil. In the first soil experiment, we characterized prevalence and co-occurrence of Leptospira with other bacterial taxa in the soil at dispersed sites along the rivers (n=64). In the second soil experiment, we collected 24 river samples and 48 soil samples at three points along eight transects to compare the likelihood of finding Leptospira in the river and on the shore at different distances from the river. In a third experiment, we tested whether Leptospira presence is associated with soil moisture by collecting 25 soil samples from two different sites. In our river experiment, we found pathogenic Leptospira in only 4 (3.7%) of samples. In contrast, pathogenic Leptospira species were found in 22% of shore soil at dispersed sites, 16.7% of soil samples (compared to 4.2% of river samples) in the transects, and 40% of soil samples to test for associations with soil moisture. Conclusions Our data are limited to two sites in a highly endemic area, but the scarcity of Leptospira DNA in the river is not consistent with the widespread contention of the importance of river water for leptospirosis transmission. While Leptospira may be shed directly into the river, onto the shores, or washed into the river from more remote sites, massive dilution and limited persistence in rivers may reduce the environmental load and therefore, the epidemiological significance of such sources. It is also possible that transmission may occur more frequently on shores where people are liable to be barefoot. Molecular studies that further explore the role of rivers and water bodies in the epidemiology of leptospirosis are needed.

Keywords

Environmental detection of Leptospira, Leptospira in soil, Leptospira in water, epidemiology of leptospirosis, Leptospirosis transmission.

External links

About this resource

• Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S27108
• Other versions: Nexus NeXML
• Show BibTeX reference

  		@ARTICLE{TreeBASE2Ref31348,
  	 author = {Erin  Miller and Veronica A. Barragan and Jorge  Chiriboga and Chad  Weddell and Ligia  Luna and Dulce J. Jim?nez and John  Aleman and Joseph R. Mihaljevic and Sonora  Olivas and Jane  Marks and Ricardo  Izurieta and Nathan  Nieto and Paul  Keim and Gabriel  Trueba and J. Gregory  Caporaso and Talima  Pearson},
  	 title = {Leptospira in river and soil in a highly endemic area of Ecuador.},
  	 year = {2020},
  	 keywords = {Environmental detection of Leptospira, Leptospira in soil, Leptospira in water, epidemiology of leptospirosis, Leptospirosis transmission.},
  	 doi = {},
  	 url = {http://},
  	 pmid = {},
  	 journal = {BMC Microbiology},
  	 volume = {},
  	 number = {},
  	 pages = {},
  	 abstract = {Abstract
  Background
  Leptospira are shed into the environment via urine of infected animals. Rivers are thought to be an important risk factor for transmission to humans, though much is unknown about the types of environment or characteristics that favor survival. To address this, we screened for Leptospira DNA in two rivers in rural Ecuador where Leptospirosis is endemic. 
  Results
  We collected 112 longitudinal samples and recorded pH, temperature, river depth, precipitation, and dissolved oxygen. We also performed a series of three experiments designed to provide insight into Leptospira presence in the soil. In the first soil experiment, we characterized prevalence and co-occurrence of Leptospira with other bacterial taxa in the soil at dispersed sites along the rivers (n=64). In the second soil experiment, we collected 24 river samples and 48 soil samples at three points along eight transects to compare the likelihood of finding Leptospira in the river and on the shore at different distances from the river. In a third experiment, we tested whether Leptospira presence is associated with soil moisture by collecting 25 soil samples from two different sites.
  In our river experiment, we found pathogenic Leptospira in only 4 (3.7%) of samples. In contrast, pathogenic Leptospira species were found in 22% of shore soil at dispersed sites, 16.7% of soil samples (compared to 4.2% of river samples) in the transects, and 40% of soil samples to test for associations with soil moisture. 
  Conclusions
  Our data are limited to two sites in a highly endemic area, but the scarcity of Leptospira DNA in the river is not consistent with the widespread contention of the importance of river water for leptospirosis transmission. While Leptospira may be shed directly into the river, onto the shores, or washed into the river from more remote sites, massive dilution and limited persistence in rivers may reduce the environmental load and therefore, the epidemiological significance of such sources. It is also possible that transmission may occur more frequently on shores where people are liable to be barefoot. Molecular studies that further explore the role of rivers and water bodies in the epidemiology of leptospirosis are needed.}
  }
  		

• Show RIS reference

  		TY  - JOUR
  ID  - 31348
  AU  - Miller,Erin 
  AU  - Barragan,Veronica A.
  AU  - Chiriboga,Jorge 
  AU  - Weddell,Chad 
  AU  - Luna,Ligia 
  AU  - Jim?nez,Dulce J.
  AU  - Aleman,John 
  AU  - Mihaljevic,Joseph R.
  AU  - Olivas,Sonora 
  AU  - Marks,Jane 
  AU  - Izurieta,Ricardo 
  AU  - Nieto,Nathan 
  AU  - Keim,Paul 
  AU  - Trueba,Gabriel 
  AU  - Caporaso,J. Gregory 
  AU  - Pearson,Talima 
  T1  - Leptospira in river and soil in a highly endemic area of Ecuador.
  PY  - 2020
  KW  - Environmental detection of Leptospira
  KW  - Leptospira in soil
  KW  - Leptospira in water
  KW  - epidemiology of leptospirosis
  KW  - Leptospirosis transmission.
  UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
  N2  - Abstract
  Background
  Leptospira are shed into the environment via urine of infected animals. Rivers are thought to be an important risk factor for transmission to humans, though much is unknown about the types of environment or characteristics that favor survival. To address this, we screened for Leptospira DNA in two rivers in rural Ecuador where Leptospirosis is endemic. 
  Results
  We collected 112 longitudinal samples and recorded pH, temperature, river depth, precipitation, and dissolved oxygen. We also performed a series of three experiments designed to provide insight into Leptospira presence in the soil. In the first soil experiment, we characterized prevalence and co-occurrence of Leptospira with other bacterial taxa in the soil at dispersed sites along the rivers (n=64). In the second soil experiment, we collected 24 river samples and 48 soil samples at three points along eight transects to compare the likelihood of finding Leptospira in the river and on the shore at different distances from the river. In a third experiment, we tested whether Leptospira presence is associated with soil moisture by collecting 25 soil samples from two different sites.
  In our river experiment, we found pathogenic Leptospira in only 4 (3.7%) of samples. In contrast, pathogenic Leptospira species were found in 22% of shore soil at dispersed sites, 16.7% of soil samples (compared to 4.2% of river samples) in the transects, and 40% of soil samples to test for associations with soil moisture. 
  Conclusions
  Our data are limited to two sites in a highly endemic area, but the scarcity of Leptospira DNA in the river is not consistent with the widespread contention of the importance of river water for leptospirosis transmission. While Leptospira may be shed directly into the river, onto the shores, or washed into the river from more remote sites, massive dilution and limited persistence in rivers may reduce the environmental load and therefore, the epidemiological significance of such sources. It is also possible that transmission may occur more frequently on shores where people are liable to be barefoot. Molecular studies that further explore the role of rivers and water bodies in the epidemiology of leptospirosis are needed.
  L3  - 
  JF  - BMC Microbiology
  VL  - 
  IS  - 
  ER  -