{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,6]],"date-time":"2026-02-06T08:39:53Z","timestamp":1770367193940,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100011094","name":"Public Health Agency of Canada","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2021-HQ-000020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021-HQ-000020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100011094","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Although leptospirosis is one of the most common zoonotic diseases worldwide, limited surveillance and poor coordination between human and animal health sectors have resulted in scarce and disparate data on its occurrence. Strengthening integrated surveillance requires cross-sector collaboration, beginning with the engagement of key organizations. The aims of this study were to 1) determine key health experts\u2019 awareness and risk perceptions of leptospirosis and of zoonotic disease surveillance in Ontario, Canada, and 2) examine key components of engagement, such as perceived value and interest, during the initial stages of developing an integrated leptospirosis surveillance framework. A web-based survey was sent to 543 experts in human, animal, and environmental health in Ontario, and analyzed using a mixed-methods approach to identify key factors influencing perceptions of leptospirosis, including views on\n                    <jats:italic>Leptospira<\/jats:italic>\n                    distribution, the impact of human behavior, and the influence of environmental conditions. Leptospirosis was recognized as a health threat in Ontario by 90% (74\/82) of respondents, and 91% (70\/77) indicated that current surveillance efforts are inadequate. A higher proportion of animal health sector respondents identified leptospirosis as a threat to human (93%, 37\/40) and animal health (90%, 44\/49) compared to public health sector respondents (76%, 25\/33 and 83%, 25\/30, respectively). All participants (81\/81) acknowledged the benefits of integrated surveillance over the current siloed approach. Our findings highlight that key public and animal health experts perceive leptospirosis as a health threat in Ontario and support more integrated disease surveillance to better respond to this emerging zoonotic pathogen.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0340404","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T18:39:15Z","timestamp":1770316755000},"page":"e0340404","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Bridging the gap: Multi-sector perspectives on human, domestic animal, and wildlife leptospirosis in Ontario, Canada"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-9092-1855","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kellie C.","family":"Libera","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"E. Jane","family":"Parmley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Katie M.","family":"Clow","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lauren E.","family":"Grant","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1896-1937","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"J. Scott","family":"Weese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Claire M.","family":"Jardine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"reference":[{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0340404.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0003898","article-title":"Global Morbidity and Mortality of Leptospirosis: A Systematic Review","volume":"9","author":"F Costa","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0340404.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0007374","article-title":"Genus-wide Leptospira core genome multilocus sequence typing for strain taxonomy and global surveillance","volume":"13","author":"J Guglielmini","year":"2019","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0340404.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.14423\/SMJ.0000000000001093","article-title":"Frequency of Animal Leptospirosis in the Southern United States and the Implications for Human Health","volume":"113","author":"T Blessington","year":"2020","journal-title":"South Med J"},{"key":"pone.0340404.ref004","first-page":"65","article-title":"Leptospirosis in humans","volume":"387","author":"DA Haake","year":"2015","journal-title":"Curr Top Microbiol Immunol"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0340404.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1167","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens12091167","article-title":"Leptospirosis and the Environment: A Review and Future Directions","volume":"12","author":"EA Bradley","year":"2023","journal-title":"Pathogens"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0340404.ref006","article-title":"Social and environmental risk factors for canine leptospirosis: A scoping review","volume":"195","author":"CM Vyn","year":"2024","journal-title":"Vet Rec"},{"key":"pone.0340404.ref007","volume-title":"Human health in a changing climate: a Canadian assessment of vulnerabilities and adaptive capacity","author":"J S\u00e9guin","year":"2008"},{"key":"pone.0340404.ref008","first-page":"167","article-title":"Increase in seroprevalence of canine leptospirosis and its risk factors, Ontario 1998\u20132006","volume":"73","author":"GD Alton","year":"2009","journal-title":"Can J Vet Res"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0340404.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"293","DOI":"10.2460\/javma.237.3.293","article-title":"Detection of antibodies against Leptospira serovars via microscopic agglutination tests in dogs in the United States, 2000-2007","volume":"237","author":"R Gautam","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Am Vet Med Assoc"},{"issue":"8","key":"pone.0340404.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1273","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2008.130450","article-title":"Leptospirosis-associated hospitalizations, United States, 1998-2009","volume":"20","author":"RM Traxler","year":"2014","journal-title":"Emerg Infect Dis"},{"issue":"54","key":"pone.0340404.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6354a1","article-title":"Summary of Notifiable Infectious Diseases and Conditions - United States, 2014","volume":"63","author":"DA Adams","year":"2016","journal-title":"MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"key":"pone.0340404.ref012","volume-title":"Notifiable hazards and reporting guidelines for laboratories and veterinarians under the Animal Health Act, 2009","author":"Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs OMAFRA","year":"2023"},{"key":"pone.0340404.ref013","volume-title":"Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA)","author":"Government of Ontario","year":"2024"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0340404.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010880","article-title":"Seroprevalence, distribution, and risk factors for human leptospirosis in the United States Virgin Islands","volume":"16","author":"A Artus","year":"2022","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"key":"pone.0340404.ref015","unstructured":"Public Health Agency of Canada PHAC. 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