Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Feb;82(2):315-7.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-0227.

The contribution of bats to leptospirosis transmission in Sao Paulo City, Brazil

Thirsa Alvares Franco Bessa  1 , Anne Spichler, Erica G Berardis Chapola, Alfred Christian Husch, Marilene Fernandes de Almeida, Miriam Martos Sodré, Elisa S M Mouriz Savani, Débora R Veiga Sacramento, Joseph M Vinetz
Affiliations

The contribution of bats to leptospirosis transmission in Sao Paulo City, Brazil

Thirsa Alvares Franco Bessa et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2010 Feb.

Abstract

The biodiversity of potential leptospiral reservoir hosts is lower in urban than in rural environments. Previous data indicate the potential for bats to act as carriers of Leptospira in regions such as the Amazon of South America and in Australia. Yet, little is known about the contribution of bats to leptospirosis in urban environments in South America. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that bats infected with Leptospira are sources of leptospirosis transmission to humans in São Paulo City, Brazil. Six of 343 bats caught in different districts within the city of Sao Paulo (182 insectivorous, 161 frugivorous or nectarivorous) were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive for pathogenic Leptospira; no seropositive bats were found. That few renal carriers of Leptospira were found in the city of Sao Paulo suggests that bats are not important in the transmission of leptospirosis to humans in this, and possibly other urban settings.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bharti AR, Nally JE, Ricaldi JN, Matthias MA, Diaz MM, Lovett MA, Levett PN, Gilman RH, Willig MR, Gotuzzo E, Vinetz JM. Leptospirosis: a zoonotic disease of global importance. Lancet Infect Dis. 2003;3:757–771. - PubMed
    1. Spichler A, Athanazio D, Buzzar M, Castro B, Chapolla E, Seguro A, Vinetz JM. Using death certificate reports to find severe leptospirosis cases, Brazil. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007;13:1559–1561. - PMC - PubMed
    1. McBride AJ, Athanazio DA, Reis MG, Ko AI. Leptospirosis. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2005;18:376–386. - PubMed
    1. Spichler AS, Vilaca PJ, Athanazio DA, Albuquerque JO, Buzzar M, Castro B, Seguro A, Vinetz JM. Predictors of lethality in severe leptospirosis in urban Brazil. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2008;79:911–914. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Levett PN. Leptospirosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2001;14:296–326. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources