Outbreak of leptospirosis with pulmonary involvement in north Andaman

An outbreak of acute febrile illness with haemorrhagic manifestations and pulmonary involvement occurred in Diglipur of North Andaman during October-November 1993. Investigations were carried out to see whether leptospires were responsible for this outbreak. Serum samples were collected from suspected cases and tested for presence of antibodies to leptospires by microscopic agglutination test (MAT) using a battery of 19 antigens representing 16 serogroups. 66.7 per cent of the specimens showed significant titres of antibodies against leptospires, 18 of 23 paired sera (78.3%) showed sero-conversion or four-fold rise in antibody titres. The commonest serovar involved was Leptospira grippotyphosa followed by L. canicola and L. JEZ bratislava. In 7 patients L. grippotyphosa was the sole serovar against which antibodies were detected. Clinical and epidemiological observations of this outbreak were similar with that of earlier seasonal outbreaks of acute febrile illness with haemorrhagic manifestations occurring in the same area, indicating that the past outbreaks may also have been due to leptospires. This is the first report of pulmonary leptospirosis from India.