PathogenicLeptospiraare widespread in the urban wildlife of southern California

Autor: Sarah K. Helman, Amanda F.N. Tokuyama, Riley O. Mummah, Mason W. Gamble, Celine E. Snedden, Benny Borremans, Ana C.R. Gomez, Caitlin Cox, Julianne Nussbaum, Isobel Tweedt, David A. Haake, Renee L. Galloway, Javier Monzón, Seth P.D. Riley, Jeff A. Sikich, Justin Brown, Anthony Friscia, Jessica W. Lynch, Katherine C. Prager, James O. Lloyd-Smith
Rok vydání: 2023
DOI: 10.1101/2023.03.13.531784
Popis: Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonotic disease in the world, yet it is broadly understudied in multi-host wildlife systems. Knowledge gaps regardingLeptospiracirculation in wildlife, particularly in densely populated areas, contribute to frequent misdiagnoses in humans and domestic animals. We assessedLeptospiraprevalence levels and risk factors in five target wildlife species across the greater Los Angeles region: striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), Northern raccoons (Procyon lotor), coyotes (Canis latrans), Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana), and fox squirrels (Sciurus niger). We sampled more than 960 individual animals, including over 700 from target species in the greater Los Angeles region, and an additional 260 sampled opportunistically from other regions and species. In the five target species, seroprevalences ranged from 5-60% and active infection prevalences ranged from 0.8-15.2% in all except fox squirrels (0%). Patterns of serologic reactivity suggest that mainland terrestrial wildlife, particularly mesocarnivores, could be the source of repeated observed introductions ofLeptospirainto local marine and island ecosystems. Overall, we found evidence of widespreadLeptospiraexposure in wildlife across Los Angeles and surrounding regions. This indicates exposure risk for humans and domestic animals and highlights that this pathogen can circulate endemically in many wildlife species even in densely populated urban areas.
Databáze: OpenAIRE