Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is a relatively rare bacterial disease in humans but also affects a wide range of animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. It is caused by infection with Gram-negative spirochaete bacteria of the genus Leptospira.
The infection is usually transmitted to humans when fresh water that has been contaminated by animal urine comes into contact with unhealed breaks in the skin, eyes or the mucous membranes. In the UK, leptospirosis is most frequently associated with rat urine, but a wide range of other mammals including dogs, deer, rabbits, hedgehogs, cows, sheep and even marine mammals are also able to carry and transmit the disease. The causative bacteria are likely to be found on muddy riverbanks, ditches, gullies, and muddy livestock rearing areas which wild or farmed animals use regularly. There is a direct link between the amount of rainfall and the incidence of leptospirosis, making it a seasonal disease in temperate climates and year-round in tropical climates. The incubation period can be anywhere from 4 to 14 days and in humans the symptoms include high fever, severe headache, chills, muscle aches, and vomiting, and may include jaundice, red eyes, abdominal pain, diarrhea and a rash. Weil’s disease, a term which has often been used for leptospirosis in general, is reserved for severe multisystem disease with severe jaundice and impaired kidney function.
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It has recently been reported that a 56-year-old British woman has died from leptospirosis after being scratched by a wild rat that had been trapped in a wire bird feeder in her garden. The woman was injured while trying to free the animal. In fact, leptospirosis is an uncommon disease in the UK with a total of 15-30 cases reported yearly. 18 fatal cases were reported in England and Wales between 1988 and 2006. The disease occurs sporadically throughout the world, but a recent public health warning about leptospirosis was issued in Thailand after an outbreak involving 2030 cases and 46 deaths in the northeastern region of the country. This outbreak occurred as a result of heavy flooding across Thailand during September and October 2008.
Tags: Agriculture, Bacteria, Biology, Environment, Health, Medicine, Microbiology, Podcast, Science
