Effects of land use, habitat characteristics, and small mammal community composition on Leptospira prevalence in northeast Madagascar.

ABSTRACT: Human activities can increase or decrease risks of acquiring a zoonotic disease, notably by affecting the composition and abundance of hosts. This study investigated the links between land use and infectious disease risk in northeast Madagascar, where human subsistence activities and population growth are encroaching on native habitats and the associated biota. We collected new data on pathogenic Leptospira, which are bacteria maintained in small mammal reservoirs. Transmission can occur through close contact, but most frequently through indirect contact with water contaminated by the urine of infected hosts. The probability of infection and prevalence was compared across a gradient of natural moist evergreen forest, nearby forest fragments, flooded rice and other types of agricultural fie

SUBMITTER: Herrera JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7774828 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature