Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa.
<h4>Background</h4>Leptospirosis is an important but neglected bacterial zoonosis that has been largely overlooked in Africa. In this systematic review, we aimed to summarise and compare current knowledge of: (1) the geographic distribution, prevalence, incidence and diversity of acute h...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003899 |
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| author | Kathryn J Allan Holly M Biggs Jo E B Halliday Rudovick R Kazwala Venance P Maro Sarah Cleaveland John A Crump |
| author_facet | Kathryn J Allan Holly M Biggs Jo E B Halliday Rudovick R Kazwala Venance P Maro Sarah Cleaveland John A Crump |
| author_sort | Kathryn J Allan |
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| description | <h4>Background</h4>Leptospirosis is an important but neglected bacterial zoonosis that has been largely overlooked in Africa. In this systematic review, we aimed to summarise and compare current knowledge of: (1) the geographic distribution, prevalence, incidence and diversity of acute human leptospirosis in Africa; and (2) the geographic distribution, host range, prevalence and diversity of Leptospira spp. infection in animal hosts in Africa.<h4>Methods</h4>Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched for studies that described (1) acute human leptospirosis and (2) pathogenic Leptospira spp. infection in animals. We performed a literature search using eight international and regional databases for English and non-English articles published between January 1930 to October 2014 that met out pre-defined inclusion criteria and strict case definitions.<h4>Results and discussion</h4>We identified 97 studies that described acute human leptospirosis (n = 46) or animal Leptospira infection (n = 51) in 26 African countries. The prevalence of acute human leptospirosis ranged from 2 3% to 19 8% (n = 11) in hospital patients with febrile illness. Incidence estimates were largely restricted to the Indian Ocean islands (3 to 101 cases per 100,000 per year (n = 6)). Data from Tanzania indicate that human disease incidence is also high in mainland Africa (75 to 102 cases per 100,000 per year). Three major species (Leptospira borgpetersenii, L. interrogans and L. kirschneri) are predominant in reports from Africa and isolates from a diverse range of serogroups have been reported in human and animal infections. Cattle appear to be important hosts of a large number of Leptospira serogroups in Africa, but few data are available to allow comparison of Leptospira infection in linked human and animal populations. We advocate a 'One Health' approach to promote multidisciplinary research efforts to improve understanding of the animal to human transmission of leptospirosis on the African continent. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2e17adaf58a9437eb46337d42591e5ca |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1935-2727 1935-2735 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| series | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| spelling | doaj-art-2e17adaf58a9437eb46337d42591e5ca2025-08-20T02:37:03ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352015-01-0199e000389910.1371/journal.pntd.0003899Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa.Kathryn J AllanHolly M BiggsJo E B HallidayRudovick R KazwalaVenance P MaroSarah CleavelandJohn A Crump<h4>Background</h4>Leptospirosis is an important but neglected bacterial zoonosis that has been largely overlooked in Africa. In this systematic review, we aimed to summarise and compare current knowledge of: (1) the geographic distribution, prevalence, incidence and diversity of acute human leptospirosis in Africa; and (2) the geographic distribution, host range, prevalence and diversity of Leptospira spp. infection in animal hosts in Africa.<h4>Methods</h4>Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we searched for studies that described (1) acute human leptospirosis and (2) pathogenic Leptospira spp. infection in animals. We performed a literature search using eight international and regional databases for English and non-English articles published between January 1930 to October 2014 that met out pre-defined inclusion criteria and strict case definitions.<h4>Results and discussion</h4>We identified 97 studies that described acute human leptospirosis (n = 46) or animal Leptospira infection (n = 51) in 26 African countries. The prevalence of acute human leptospirosis ranged from 2 3% to 19 8% (n = 11) in hospital patients with febrile illness. Incidence estimates were largely restricted to the Indian Ocean islands (3 to 101 cases per 100,000 per year (n = 6)). Data from Tanzania indicate that human disease incidence is also high in mainland Africa (75 to 102 cases per 100,000 per year). Three major species (Leptospira borgpetersenii, L. interrogans and L. kirschneri) are predominant in reports from Africa and isolates from a diverse range of serogroups have been reported in human and animal infections. Cattle appear to be important hosts of a large number of Leptospira serogroups in Africa, but few data are available to allow comparison of Leptospira infection in linked human and animal populations. We advocate a 'One Health' approach to promote multidisciplinary research efforts to improve understanding of the animal to human transmission of leptospirosis on the African continent.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003899 |
| spellingShingle | Kathryn J Allan Holly M Biggs Jo E B Halliday Rudovick R Kazwala Venance P Maro Sarah Cleaveland John A Crump Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
| title | Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa. |
| title_full | Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa. |
| title_fullStr | Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa. |
| title_short | Epidemiology of Leptospirosis in Africa: A Systematic Review of a Neglected Zoonosis and a Paradigm for 'One Health' in Africa. |
| title_sort | epidemiology of leptospirosis in africa a systematic review of a neglected zoonosis and a paradigm for one health in africa |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0003899 |
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