Isolation of Leptospira from wild forest animals in Amazonian Brazil

The role of wild, forest animals as reservoirs of Leptospira was investigated in Pará State, north Brazil. 696 animals were examined by culture of kidney tissue; isolates of serovar ballum were made from the rodent Proechimys sp. and the opossum Didelphis marsupialis; leptospires of the serogroups hebdomadis, grippotyphosa and cynopteri were isolated from the armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus, and as yet untyped leptospires were isolated from Proechimys and the procyonid carnivore Nasua nasua. Antibodies to serovars bataviae, butembo, canicola, castellonis, celledoni, grippotyphosa, panama, icterohaemorrhagiae and wolffi were demonstrated among 222 other animals examined by serological methods.