{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T05:54:03Z","timestamp":1778133243611,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,6]],"date-time":"2021-03-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1614988800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Rudolf Geigy Foundation","award":["-"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["-"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Leptospirosis is a neglected worldwide zoonotic bacterial disease with a high prevalence in subtropical and tropical countries. The prevalence of Leptospira spp. in humans, cattle and dogs is unknown in Bhutan. Therefore, we sought to find out whether humans, cattle or dogs had been infected in the past with leptospires by measuring antibodies in the serum. We therefore collected blood from 864 humans \u226513 years of age, 130 bovines and 84 dogs from different rural and urban areas in Bhutan and tested the serum for antibodies specific for leptospires with a screening of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and a confirmatory microscopic agglutination test (MAT). In humans, 17.6% were seropositive by ELISA and 1.6% by MAT. The seropositivity was stronger in bovines (36.9%) and dogs (47.6%). \u201cHaving had a fever recently\u201d (OR 5.2, p = 0.004), \u201cworking for the military\u201d (OR 26.6, p = 0.028) and \u201cbeing unemployed\u201d (OR 12.9, p = 0.041) (reference category = housemaker) were statistically significantly associated with seropositivity when controlled for the effects of other risk factors. However, due to the small number of positive test results, the findings on risk factors should be interpreted with caution. Based on the serogroups found in the three species, dogs could be a source of infection for humans, or dogs and humans are exposed to the same environmental risk factors Clinical leptospirosis in humans and domestic animals should be investigated by testing blood and urine for the presence of leptospires by molecular methods (qPCR).<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens10030308","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,7]],"date-time":"2021-03-07T21:52:15Z","timestamp":1615153935000},"page":"308","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Exposure to Leptospira spp. and Associated Risk Factors in the Human, Cattle and Dog Populations in Bhutan"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Anou","family":"Dreyfus","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Medical Faculty, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit, Institut Pasteur Madagascar, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marie-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se","family":"Ruf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Medical Faculty, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anne","family":"Mayer-Scholl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, 10589 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Theresa","family":"Zitzl","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Hygiene and Infectious Diseases of Animals, Justus Liebig University, 35392 Giessen, Germany"},{"name":"Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nadine","family":"Loosli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Medical Faculty, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1215-7246","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nadja Seyhan","family":"Bier","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Safety, German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, 10589 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stephanie","family":"Hiereth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4511-9537","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sebastian","family":"Ulrich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sven","family":"Poppert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"},{"name":"Medical Faculty, University of Basel, 4055 Basel, Switzerland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8382-7182","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Reinhard K.","family":"Straubinger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chair for Bacteriology and Mycology, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Stenos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, University Hospital Geelong, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5122-1482","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tshokey","family":"Tshokey","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital, Thimphu 11001, Bhutan"},{"name":"Faculty of Postgraduate Medicine, Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan, Thimphu 11001, Bhutan"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Costa, F., Hagan, J.E., Calcagno, J., Kane, M., Torgerson, P., Martinez-Silveira, M.S., Stein, C., Abela-Ridder, B., and Ko, A.I. 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