Leptospirosis

Question 1

Human infections occur after contact with urine of infected animals (rats, dogs, cattle, horses) or urine-

Contaminated water, Soil and plants

Answer 1

Leptospirosis

Question 2

• Incubation period:

Answer 2

7-14 days

Question 3

• If left untreated:

Answer 3

• Meningitis | Respiratory problems
• Liver/renal failure | Death

Question 4

• Tightly coiled, 6-20 um long,0.1 um in diameter, form a hook; many serovars

Examined by darkfield thick smears with microscopy or Giemsa stain,
silver deposition, fluorescent antibody methods, or electron microscopy,
microscopic agglutination test (MAT), serovar typing

Answer 4

Leptospira interrogans
L. interrogans serovar Icterohemorrhagiae

Question 5

Leptospira interrogans

L. interrogans serovar Icterohemorrhagiae

= Grown on semisolid media:_______, aerobic or microaerophilic

28-30°C

slow growing

20 hours gen. time

3-4 weeks growth on solid medium

Answer 5

Fletcher’s

EMJH - Ellinghausen McCullough Johnson & Harris

Question 6

• Rat-bite fever (sodoku)

• Small, rigid spiral
• Worldwide
• Bite of rat
• Local lesion, regional gland swelling, skin rashes, fever

Answer 6

Spirillum minor
(Spirillum morsus muris)

Question 7

Leptospira

Growth Conditions:
• Obligate aerobes.
• Cultured in…

Answer 7

Fletcher semisolid, Stuart liquid, or EMJH semisolid medium.

Question 8

Leptospira

Symptoms:
• Early: Fever, chills, headache, severe myalgia, malaise (influenza-like).

• Conjunctival suffusion: A key but inconsistent finding (<50% of cases).

• Severe systemic disease (_____): Includes renal failure, hepatic failure, and intravascular complications, potentially leading to death.

Answer 8

Weil disease

Question 9

Leptospira

Reservoirs:
• (3) are principal reservoirs.
• Leptospires persist in renal tubules of carriers, excreted in urine.

Answer 9

Dogs, rats, and rodents