Leptospirosis and One Health Approach: Current Status and Future Prospects, 2nd Edition

A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "One Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 December 2025 | Viewed by 7350

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campina Grande 58428-830, Brazil
Interests: leptospirosis; One Health; animal leptospirosis; environment; epidemiology; control; diagnosis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Campina Grande 58428-830, Brazil
Interests: leptospirosis; One Health; animal leptospirosis; environment; epidemiology; control; diagnosis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic disease of broad impact on animal production and public health that affects more than 1 million people, with 60,000 deaths per year. The infection has a strong environmental component, and exposure to soil or water contaminated with the urine of reservoir animals (mostly rodents) infected with pathogenic Leptospira is the most common way for humans or animals to contract leptospirosis. The ability of Leptospira to occupy various ecological niches suggests that the pathogen might have evolved from an environmental ancestor through the acquisition of new functions via lateral gene transfers associated with adaptation to new hosts.

In this context, studies focusing on the animal–human–environment interface are important to better understand the ecology of Leptospira in the natural environment and its interactions with animal and human populations, which will help the implementation of prevention and control efforts aimed at reducing the risk of infection.

The 2nd Edition of this Special Issue aims to address the current status and future prospects on leptospirosis in the context of a One Health approach, with a broad emphasis on the animal, human, and environment interface, and papers focusing on relevant aspects such as deeper understanding of the biodiversity of strains that can lead to infections in both humans and animals, Leptospira isolating from environmental samples, molecular epidemiology, improvement of diagnostic methods, and new epidemiological insights are particularly welcome. We invite the submission of reviews, reports, and original research articles.

Dr. Sérgio Santos de Azevedo
Dr. Clebert José Alves
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • leptospirosis
  • one health
  • animal leptospirosis
  • environment
  • epidemiology
  • control
  • diagnosis

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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16 pages, 2519 KB  
Article
Surveillance of Emerging Rodent-Borne Pathogens in Wastewater in Taiwan: A One Health Approach
by Kun-Hsien Tsai, Tsai-Ying Yen, Hsin-Hsin Tung, Amy Ho, Yang-Ta Chien, Chung-Yu Wang, Shu-Wei Kang, Ning-Ning Juan and Fang-Ling Lin
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(11), 282; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9110282 - 18 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2081
Abstract
Leptospirosis and hantavirus syndrome are two major rodent-borne diseases in Taiwan. Rocahepevirus ratii (RHEV), a virus closely related to hepatitis E virus (HEV, Paslahepevirus balayani), is emerging and has been reported to cause hepatitis in humans. We employed wastewater-based epidemiology to actively [...] Read more.
Leptospirosis and hantavirus syndrome are two major rodent-borne diseases in Taiwan. Rocahepevirus ratii (RHEV), a virus closely related to hepatitis E virus (HEV, Paslahepevirus balayani), is emerging and has been reported to cause hepatitis in humans. We employed wastewater-based epidemiology to actively monitor rodent-borne pathogens, and the correlations with human cases were evaluated. Wastewater was collected using grab sampling at 11 sites along a sewer system including influents and effluents at a wastewater treatment plant in Tamsui, New Taipei City, Taiwan, monthly during June 2023 to May 2024. The presence of pathogens was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The result showed an overall positivity rate of 38.2% (50/131). Leptospira was detected most often (48/131, 36.6%), and RHEV and hantaviruses were found once each during the study period. Sequencing identified Leptospira interrogans close to isolates from rodents and human cases, while sequences of hantavirus and RHEV were most similar to isolates from rodents. No significant correlation was found with human cases or positive samples for rodent DNA. Here, we present an example of a One Health approach applying wastewater to environmental surveillance for the early detection and prevention of emerging diseases. Full article
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14 pages, 923 KB  
Article
Detection of Genes Related to Antibiotic Resistance in Leptospira
by Santiago Pineda, Juliana María Martínez Garro, Jorge Emilio Salazar Flórez, Sergio Agudelo-Pérez, Fernando P. Monroy and Ronald Guillermo Peláez Sánchez
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2024, 9(9), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed9090203 - 6 Sep 2024
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2650
Abstract
Leptospirosis is a disease caused by the bacteria of the Leptospira genus, which can usually be acquired by humans through contact with urine from infected animals; it is also possible for this urine to contaminate soils and bodies of water. The disease can [...] Read more.
Leptospirosis is a disease caused by the bacteria of the Leptospira genus, which can usually be acquired by humans through contact with urine from infected animals; it is also possible for this urine to contaminate soils and bodies of water. The disease can have deadly consequences in some extreme cases. Fortunately, until now, patients with leptospirosis have responded adequately to treatment with doxycycline and azithromycin, and no cases of antibiotic resistance have been reported. However, with the extensive use of such medications, more bacteria, such as Staphylococci and Enterococci, are becoming resistant. The purpose of this study is to determine the presence of genes related to antibiotic resistance in the Leptospira genus using bioinformatic tools, which have not been undertaken in the past. Whole genomes from the 69 described Leptospira species were downloaded from NCBI’s GeneBank and analyzed using CARD (The Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistant Database) and RAST (Rapid Annotations using Subsystem Technology). After a detailed genomic search, 12 genes associated with four mechanisms were found: resistance to beta-lactamases, vancomycin, aminoglycoside adenylyltransferases, as well as multiple drug efflux pumps. Some of these genes are highly polymorphic among different species, and some of them are present in multiple copies in the same species. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the presence of genes related to antibiotic resistance in the genomes of some species of the genus Leptospira, and it is the starting point for future experimental evaluation to determine whether these genes are transcriptionally active in some species and serovars. Full article
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10 pages, 252 KB  
Brief Report
Backyard Livestock Guinea Pigs Are Reservoirs for Leptospira Shedding in Rural Households from Ecuador
by Mauricio Xavier Salas-Rueda, Fabricio Dugllay-Montaleza, Darwin Paredes-Núñez, Katherine Natalia Chávez Toledo, Angel Sebastián Rodríguez-Pazmiño, Elsy Carvajal, Maria Belen Paredes-Espinosa, Patricia Peralta-Ortiz, Jairo Guama-Tipas, Juan Pablo Garzon, Alexandra Narvaez, Solon Alberto Orlando and Miguel Angel Garcia-Bereguiain
Trop. Med. Infect. Dis. 2025, 10(9), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed10090256 - 8 Sep 2025
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Abstract
Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) are bred as livestock in South American countries from the Andean region, including Ecuador. Despite their importance for the local rural economy, no public health management guidelines have ever been implemented for guinea pig farming. Moreover, several [...] Read more.
Guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) are bred as livestock in South American countries from the Andean region, including Ecuador. Despite their importance for the local rural economy, no public health management guidelines have ever been implemented for guinea pig farming. Moreover, several reports have shown the carriage of diverse zoonotic pathogens in livestock guinea pigs, including respiratory and enteric pathogens, or Toxoplasma gondii. Leptospirosis, a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria from Leptospira genus, is endemic in Ecuador and has multiple animal reservoirs, with rodents considered to be the main vector for transmission to humans. However, the role of livestock guinea pigs in the epidemiology of leptospirosis is poorly understood. In this study, the prevalence of antibodies against Leptospira in guinea pigs from Ecuador was analyzed with the Microaglutiantion Test (MAT). Moreover, the shedding of Leptospira by backyard livestock guinea pigs was also addressed, analyzing fecal and urine samples by qPCR for lipL32, secY and rrs genes. From the 118 guinea pigs analyzed by MAT, 61.9% were positive for 19 different pathogenic serovars, with Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona, Castellonis and Bataviae being the most prevalent ones. From the 231 urine samples and 225 fecal samples collected, 27.7% and 78.7% were positive for Leptospira by qPCR, respectively. Our results highlight the role of livestock guinea pigs as a reservoir for leptospirosis. Moreover, this study underscores the zoonotic threat associated with the shedding of Leptospira within households in rural communities where guinea pigs are bred as livestock. Animal and public health guidelines from a One Health perspective must be implemented to prevent leptospirosis transmission from guinea pigs in Ecuador and other countries in the Andean Region where the breeding of backyard livestock guinea pigs is common. Full article
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