{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,10]],"date-time":"2026-10-10T15:02:30Z","timestamp":1791644550259,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]],"date-time":"2022-02-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1644883200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka","award":["U19AI115658"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U19AI115658"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Human leptospirosis involves the classic epidemiological triad (agent, host and environment); hence the investigations should include the knowledge on <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> within the animals and the environment. The objectives of this study are to explore the abundance of <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> in different climate zones of Sri Lanka and to describe the presence of <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> in the same water source at serial time points. First, water and soil samples were collected from different parts of Sri Lanka (Component-1); second, water sampling continued only in the dry zone (Component-2). Finally, serial water sampling from ten open wells was performed at five different time points (Component-3). Quantitative PCR of water and metagenomic sequencing of soil were performed to detect <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic>. Three replicates for each sample were used for PCR testing, and positive result of two or more replicates was defined as \u2018strongly positive,\u2019 and one positive replicate was defined as positive. In the water and soil sample analysis in the whole country (Component-1), two out of 12 water sites were positive, and both were situated in the wet zone. Very small quantities of the genus <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> were detected by 16 amplicon analysis of soil in all 11 sites. In the dry zone water sample analysis (Component-2), only samples from 6 out of 26 sites were positive, of which one site was strongly positive. In the serial sample analysis (Component-3), Six, five, four, five, and six wells were positive in serial measurements. All wells were positive for at least one time point, while only one well was positive for all five time points. Proximity to the tank and greater distances from the main road were associated with strong positive results for <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> (P&lt;0.05). The presence of <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> was not consistent, indicating the variable abundance of <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic> in the natural environment. This intermittent nature of positivity could be explained by the repetitive contamination by animal urine.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0263719","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]],"date-time":"2022-02-15T18:52:20Z","timestamp":1644951140000},"page":"e0263719","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["The variable presence of Leptospira in the environment; an epidemiological explanation based on serial analysis of water samples"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6554-6851","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Janith","family":"Warnasekara","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shalka","family":"Srimantha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Indika","family":"Senavirathna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chamila","family":"Kappagoda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nirmani","family":"Farika","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Achala","family":"Nawinna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7810-1774","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Suneth","family":"Agampodi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0263719.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.3201\/eid1912.130265","article-title":"Toward Proof of Concept of a One Health Approach to Disease Prediction and Control","volume":"19","author":"P. 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