Molecular Detection of Leptospiral DNA in Environmental Water on St. Kitts

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Julienne Rawlins¹  Alexandra Portanova¹  Ilana Zuckerman¹  Amanda Loftis¹  Pietro Ceccato²  Arve Lee Willingham¹ 

[1] Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies; E-Mails:;International Research Institute for Climate and Society, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: Leptospira;    molecular detection;    environmental transmission;    leptospirosis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph110807953

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Leptospirosis is an important waterborne zoonotic disease caused by pathogenic Leptospira. The pathogen is maintained in a population due to chronic colonization and shedding from renal tubules of domestic and wild animals. Humans and other animals become infected when they come in contact with urine from infected animals, either directly or through urine-contaminated surface water. In this study, we screened environmental water on the island of St. Kitts by using a TaqMan based real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) targeting a pathogen specific leptospiral gene, lipl32. Our results indicate that around one-fifth of tested water sources have detectable leptospiral DNA.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.