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Detection and quantification of leptospires in urine of dogs: a maintenance host for the zoonotic disease leptospirosis

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Abstract

Leptospirosis is a global zoonotic disease. Pathogenic Leptospira species, the causative agent of leptospirosis, colonize the renal tubules of chronically infected maintenance hosts such as dogs, rats and cattle. Maintenance hosts typically remain clinically asymptomatic and shed leptospires into the environment via urine. In contrast, accidental hosts such as humans can suffer severe acute forms of the disease. Infection results from direct contact with infected urine or indirectly, through contaminated water sources. In this study, a quantitative real-time PCR specific for lipL32 was designed to detect the urinary shedding of leptospires from dogs. The sensitivity and specificity of the assay was evaluated using both a panel of pathogenic Leptospira species and clinical microbial isolates, and samples of urine collected from experimentally infected rats and non-infected controls. The lower limit of detection was approximately 3 genome equivalents per reaction. The assay was applied to canine urine samples collected from local dog sanctuaries and the University Veterinary Hospital (UVH) at University College Dublin. Of 525 canine urine samples assayed, 37 were positive, indicating a prevalence of urinary shedding of leptospires of 7.05%. These results highlight the need to provide effective canine vaccination strategies and raise public health awareness.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by grant number RSF06 363 from the Research Stimulus Fund, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and grant number 05/YI2/B696 President of Ireland Young Researcher Award from Science Foundation Ireland. We thank Prof. William Ellis, OIE Reference Laboratory for animal leptospirosis, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Stormont, Northern Ireland and Prof. Rudy Hartskeerl, WHO/FAO/OIE and National Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis, Royal Tropical Institute, The Netherlands, for kindly providing serovars of Leptospira. We thank the UCD Veterinary Hospital, Maureen McCullough, Louise Mooney, and Paula Lyons for UVH urine samples, Dr. Jorge Gutierrez and Dr. John Browne for technical advice, Olwen Golden, and the dog sanctuaries for permission to collect urine samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Agriculture, Food Science & Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    P. Rojas, A. M. Monahan, S. Schuller, I. S. Miller, B. K. Markey & J. E. Nally

  2. Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    J. E. Nally

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  1. P. Rojas
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  2. A. M. Monahan
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  3. S. Schuller
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  4. I. S. Miller
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  5. B. K. Markey
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  6. J. E. Nally
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Correspondence to J. E. Nally.

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Rojas, P., Monahan, A.M., Schuller, S. et al. Detection and quantification of leptospires in urine of dogs: a maintenance host for the zoonotic disease leptospirosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 29, 1305–1309 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-0991-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-010-0991-2

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