Predominance of Leptospira wolffii in north-central Bangladesh, 2019

Abstract

Leptospira was detected in 48.9% of blood samples from 182 febrile patients in north-central Bangladesh in 2019. Most Leptospira were classified as L. wolffii (93%) on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA genes, while others were assigned to L. borgpetersenii and L. meyeri.

Keywords: 16S rRNA; Bangladesh; Leptospira borgpetersenii; Leptospira meyeri; Leptospira wolffii.

Fig. 1

Phylogenetic dendrogram based on partial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences of Leptospira constructed by maximum likelihood method using MEGA6 programme, following alignment with Clustal W algorithm. Tree was statistically supported by bootstrapping with 1000 replicates; phylogenetic distances were measured by Kimura two-parameter model with uniform rates among sites. Samples we analysed are indicated by solid circles; previous study in Mymensingh, Bangladesh [5], uses diamonds. Bootstrap values more than 80% are shown. Scale bar represents genetic distance, i.e. number of substitution per site. Subclusters are shown at right using designation in parentheses (P1, P2, S1/S2) by Guglielmini et al. [12] along with former designations (pathogenic, intermediate, nonpathogenic). Cluster of L. wolffii and closely related species to L. wolffii in P2 subclade is shown by vertical line.