Advances in research on leptospira and human leptospirosis in China

Leptospirosis exists in 26 of 30 provinces (exclusive of Taiwan province) in China. Up to now, a total of 18 serogroups and 70 serovars of pathogenic leptospires have been identified, including 35 serovars first found in China. A great deal of work has gone into the study of the leptospires and leptospirosis, and the present paper reviews these works, concentrating on serovar lai (the major serovar in China) and pulmonary diffuse hemorrhage (PDH), a traumatic consequence of leptospirosis.