Reservoir hosts of Leptospira inadai in India

Isolation of Leptospira from the kidneys of Rattus rattus wroughtoni hinton, Rattus rattus rufescens, Bandicota bengalensis and Bandicota indica was attempted in Bangalore in southern India. In total, 296 spirochaetes were isolated from 1,348 kidney cultures (an isolation rate of 22%). A batch of fifty-six isolates from India was identified, based on serological and polymerase chain reaction analysis, of which twenty-three isolates were identified as L. inadai by the World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis, in Brisbane. This is the first record of isolation of L. inadai from rodents. The preponderance of L. inadai in four different species of rodents suggests that these animals could be the natural reservoir hosts of L. inadai, and raises a critical question as to the likely impact of this species of Leptospira on the renal carrier status of other Leptospira pathogenic to humans and animals in this part of India. Virulence studies conducted at the University of Trieste in Italy, revealed that isolates of L. inadai from India were moderately or totally serum resistant when subjected to a serum killing test. To establish the possible seroprevalence of this species in the population, the inclusion of L. inadai in the battery of leptospiral antigens used for sero-epidemiological studies is recommended.