| Leptospira wolffii | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Bacteria |
| Phylum: | Spirochaetota |
| Class: | Spirochaetia |
| Order: | Leptospirales |
| Family: | Leptospiraceae |
| Genus: | Leptospira |
| Species: | L. wolffii |
| Binomial name | |
| Leptospira wolffii Slack et al., 2008 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Leptospira wolffii is a gram negative aerobic bacterium in the spirochaete phylum. The species named after Dutch bacteriologist Jan Willem Wolff. [2]
As with other species in the phylum, L. wolffii has a spiral shape and uses its endoflagella for movement. Within the genus of Leptospira , L. wolffii falls within the intermediate or opportunistic pathogen clade. [3] The microbe is 10-13 μM long and 0.2 μM wide, making difficult to see unless using dark-field microscopy, so genetic analysis is a common means of identification. [2] [4]
Leptospira wolffii was first identified in Thailand from a patient's urine sample, who had contracted leptospirosis in 2008. [2] L.wolffii is classified as an intermediate Leptospira, along with L. inadai , L. fainei , L. broomii , and L. licerasiae , meaning it can be carried by a host asymptomatically or cause the disease leptospirosis. [5] When causing illness L. wolffii, like pathogenic Leptospira, can infect a host and spread to various organs including the kidneys where the microbe is shed in the urine. In turn, L. wolffii spreads to other hosts coming into contact with infected urine or contaminated water or soil. [2] Cases of leptospirosis have been caused by L. wolffii have been identified in Central, Southeast, and East Asia carried by humans, dogs, sheep, and other mammals. [4] Since Leptospira can infect a variety of hosts between species it is a problematic anthropozoonotic disease. [5]
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an illness resulting from an infection.
A spirochaete or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota, which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled cells. Spirochaetes are chemoheterotrophic in nature, with lengths between 3 and 500 μm and diameters around 0.09 to at least 3 μm.
Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) is a species of retrovirus that cause persistent infections in at least 45 species of non-human primates. Based on analysis of strains found in four species of monkeys from Bioko Island, which was isolated from the mainland by rising sea levels about 11,000 years ago, it has been concluded that SIV has been present in monkeys and apes for at least 32,000 years, and probably much longer.
Serratia is a genus of Gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria of the family Yersiniaceae. According to the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing Nomenclature (LPSN), there are currently 19 species of Serratia that are credibly published with accurate names as of 2020: S. aquatilis, S. entomophila, S. ficaria, S. fonticola, S. grimesii, S. liquefaciens, S. marcescens, S. microhaemolytica, S. myotis, S. nematodiphila, S. odoriferae, S. oryzae, S. plymuthica, S. proteamaculans, S. quinivorans corrig, S. rubidaea, S. symbiotica, S. ureilytica, S. vespertilionis. They are typically 1–5 μm in length, do not produce spores, and can be found in water, soil, plants, and animals. Some members of this genus produce a characteristic red pigment, prodigiosin, and can be distinguished from other members of the order Enterobacterales by their unique production of three enzymes: DNase (nucA), lipase, and gelatinase (serralysin). Serratia was thought to be a harmless environmental bacteria until it was discovered that the most common species in the genus, S. marcescens, is an opportunistic pathogen of many animals, including humans. In humans, S. marcescens is mostly associated with nosocomial, or hospital-acquired, infections, but can also cause urinary tract infections, pneumonia, and endocarditis. S. marcescens is frequently found in showers, toilet bowls, and around wetted tiles as a pinkish to red biofilm but only causes disease in immunocompromised individuals. Aside from S marcescens, some rare strains of the Serratia species S. plymuthica, S. liquefaciens, S. rubidaea, and S. odoriferae have been shown to cause infection such as osteomyelitis and endocarditis.
Leptospirosis is a blood infection caused by the bacteria Leptospira that can infect humans, dogs, rodents and many other wild and domesticated animals. Signs and symptoms can range from none to mild to severe. Weil's disease, the acute, severe form of leptospirosis, causes the infected individual to become jaundiced, develop kidney failure, and bleed. Bleeding from the lungs associated with leptospirosis is known as severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome.
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Leptospira is a genus of spirochaete bacteria, including a small number of pathogenic and saprophytic species. Leptospira was first observed in 1907 in kidney tissue slices of a leptospirosis victim who was described as having died of "yellow fever".
Host tropism is the infection specificity of certain pathogens to particular hosts and host tissues. This explains why most pathogens are only capable of infecting a limited range of host organisms.
Leptospira noguchii is a gram-negative, pathogenic organism named for Japanese bacteriologist Dr. Hideyo Noguchi who named the genus Leptospira. L. noguchii is famous for causing the febrile illness in Fort Bragg, NC during World War II. There was 40 cases of this fever documented during each summer from 1942 to 1944; however, there were 0 deaths recorded from this outbreak. Unlike other strains of Leptospira that cause leptospirosis, L. noguchii is characterized by showing a pretibial rash on the victim. Its specific epithet recognises Hideyo Noguchi.
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Leptospira interrogans is a species of obligate aerobic spirochaete bacteria shaped like a corkscrew with hooked and spiral ends. L. interrogans is mainly found in warmer tropical regions. The bacteria can live for weeks to months in the ground or water. Leptospira is one of the genera of the spirochaete phylum that causes severe mammalian infections. This species is pathogenic to some wild and domestic animals, including pet dogs. It can also spread to humans through abrasions on the skin, where infection can cause flu-like symptoms with kidney and liver damage. Human infections are commonly spread by contact with contaminated water or soil, often through the urine of both wild and domestic animals. Some individuals are more susceptible to serious infection, including farmers and veterinarians who work with animals.
In biology, a pathogen in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a germ.
Leptospira fainei is a pathogenic species of Leptospira, first isolated from pigs in Australia and named for University of Otago and Monash University microbiologist Dr. Solomon Faine.
Leptospira kirschneri is a Gram negative, obligate aerobe species of spirochete bacteria named for University of Otago bacteriologist Dr. Leopold Kirschner. It is a member of the genus Leptospira. The species is pathogenic and can cause leptospirosis, most commonly in pigs.
Leptospira broomii is a species of Leptospira isolated from humans with leptospirosis. The type strain is 5399T.
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A feline zoonosis is a viral, bacterial, fungal, protozoan, nematode or arthropod infection that can be transmitted to humans from the domesticated cat, Felis catus. Some of these diseases are reemerging and newly emerging infections or infestations caused by zoonotic pathogens transmitted by cats. In some instances, the cat can display symptoms of infection and sometimes the cat remains asymptomatic. There can be serious illnesses and clinical manifestations in people who become infected. This is dependent on the immune status and age of the person. Those who live in close association with cats are more prone to these infections. But those that do not keep cats as pets are also able to acquire these infections because of the transmission can be from cat feces and the parasites that leave their bodies.
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Leopold Kirschner was an Austro-Hungarian, Dutch, and New Zealand bacteriologist specializing in leptospirosis. He is known for his work on the survival of Leptospira spp in the environment, research on conditions and media for Leptospira growth, his role in the initial discoveries of leptospirosis in New Zealand, for early epidemiologic descriptions of leptospirosis as an occupational disease of dairy farmers, and for the major pathogenic Leptospira species, Leptospira kirschneri, that was named in his honor.
Joseph Michael Vinetz is a Professor of Medicine and Anthropology at Yale University, Research Professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and Associate Investigator of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute of Tropical Medicine at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia.