Potentially Pathogenic <i>Leptospira</i> Species Isolated from a Waterfall in Thailand

作者：Somjit Chaiwattanarungruengpaisan, Sarin Suwanpakdee, Nareerat Sangkachai, Tatiyanuch Chamsai, Kanokwan Taruyanon, Metawee Thongdee · 发表于：Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases · 年份：2017 · DOI：10.7883/yoken.jjid.2017.363 · 被引用次数：24 · 研究领域：Leptospirosis research and findings

We collected water and soil samples from a waterfall in Thailand to investigate the presence of potentially pathogenic Leptospira. Isolation of Leptospira from all the 17 environmental samples was successful. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, a diverse group of Leptospira species was recovered from waterfall samples including 2 pathogenic species (Leptospira alstonii [5/17, 29%] and Leptospira kmetyi [1/17, 6%]); 1 intermediate species (Leptospira wolffii [9/17, 53%]); and 2 non-pathogenic species (Leptospira meyeri [1/17, 6%] and Leptospira idonii [1/17, 6%]). The high prevalence of pathogenic and intermediate Leptospira indicates that a waterfall may serve as a natural reservoir of possible pathogens of leptospirosis.