@article{fdi:010066264,
  title = {{D}etermination of {L}eptospira borgpetersenii serovar {J}avanica and {L}eptospira interrogans serovar {B}ataviae as the persistent {L}eptospira serovars circulating in the urban rat populations in peninsular {M}alaysia},
  author = {{B}enacer, {D}. and {Z}ain, {S}. {N}. {M}. and {S}im, {S}. {Z}. and {K}halid, {M}knm and {G}alloway, {R}. {L}. and {S}ouris, {M}arc and {T}hong, {K}. {L}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{B}ackground: {L}eptospirosis is an emerging infectious disease of global significance, and is endemic in tropical countries, including {M}alaysia. {O}ver the last decade, a dramatic increase of human cases was reported; however, information on the primary vector, the rat, and the {L}eptospira serovars circulating among the rat population is limited. {T}herefore, the present study was undertaken to isolate {L}eptospira and characterise the serovars circulating in the urban rat populations from selected main cities in {P}eninsular {M}alaysia. {M}ethods: {R}at trappings were carried out between {O}ctober 2011 to {F}ebruary 2014 in five urban cities which were chosen as study sites to represent different geographical locations in {P}eninsular {M}alaysia. {M}icroscopic agglutination test ({MAT}) and {PCR} were carried out to identify the {L}eptospiral serogroup and determine the pathogenic status of the isolates, respectively while pulsed-field gel electrophoresis ({PFGE}) and random amplified polymorphic {DNA} ({RAPD})-{PCR} were used to characterize the isolates. {R}esults: {T}hree rat species were identified from the three hundred and fifty seven rats captured with {R}attus rattus, being the dominant rat species (285, 80 %) followed by {R}attus norgevicus (53, 15 %) and {R}attus exulans (19, 5 %). {O}nly 39 samples (11.0 %) were positive by culture and further confirmed as pathogenic {L}eptospira by {PCR}. {S}ignificant associations were shown between host infection with locality, season, host-age and species. {B}ased on {MAT}, two serogroups were identified in the population namely; {L}. borgpetersenii serogroup {J}avanica (n = 16) and {L}. interrogans serogroup {B}ataviae (n = 23). {P}ulsed-field gel electrophoresis ({PFGE}) distinguished the two serovars in the urban rat populations: {L}. borgpetersenii serovar {J}avanica (41 %), and {L}. interrogans serovar {B}ataviae (59 %). {RAPD}-{PCR} yielded 14 distinct patterns and was found to be more discriminative than {PFGE}. {C}onclusions: {T}his study confirms two {L}eptospira serovars circulating among the urban rats population in {P}eninsular {M}alaysia namely; {L}. borgpetersenii serovar {J}avanica and {L}. interrogans serovars {B}ataviae. {D}espite the low number of isolates obtained from the rat population, this study suggests that rodent control programs and disease surveillance may help to reduce the possible risk of disease transmission.},
  keywords = {{L}eptospira ; {L}eptospirosis ; {R}odents ; {O}utbreaks ; {MALAISIE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}arasites and {V}ectors},
  volume = {9},
  numero = {},
  pages = {art. 117 [11 p.]},
  ISSN = {1756-3305},
  year = {2016},
  DOI = {10.1186/s13071-016-1400-1},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010066264},
}