Leptospirosis, a widespread zoonotic disease, is a public health problem, especially in major urban centres, and is mainly reported to be associated with rats. In Malaysia, focus has been primarily given to the Leptospira prevalence in rodents per se, but there is lack of information on the microhabitat structure of the outbreak areas. We aimed to determine the diversity of small mammal species, microhabitat types, and their prevalence of pathogenic Leptospira spp. in the outbreak areas, which were categorized as urban, semi-urban, and recreational forests. Sampling involved deploying 100 to 300 live traps at each study site. Kidney samples were extracted from selected individuals, for screening of pathogenic Leptospira spp. by PCR. Out of 537 individuals from 15 small mammal species captured, 4 species were recorded from urban, 13 from semi-urban, and 11 from recreational forest sites. From 389 individuals screened, 58 were tested positive for pathogenic Leptospira. Recreational forests recorded the highest prevalence with 19.4% (n = 93), followed by urban, 16.6% (n = 163) and semi-urban sites with 9.8% (n = 133). Seven rodent species were tested positive for pathogenic Leptospira from all areas. R. norvegicus was found to harbour the highest prevalence (66.7%) in urban, R. rattus (53.8%) in semi-urban, whereby M. whiteheadi (44.4%) in recreational forest sites. Microhabitat analysis revealed that rubbish quantity contributed especially strongly to a high prevalence of Leptospira. This study contributes to understanding of the host and microhabitat preferences of Leptospira, which is important in controlling the spread of this disease in human’s landscapes.

中文翻译：

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微生境因素影响致病性钩端螺旋体的流行。在小型哺乳动物宿主中。

钩端螺旋体病是一种广泛的人畜共患病，是一种公共卫生问题，尤其是在主要城市中心，据报道主要与大鼠有关。在马来西亚，重点主要放在啮齿动物本身的钩端螺旋体流行，但缺乏有关暴发区微生境结构的信息。我们旨在确定小型哺乳动物物种，微生境类型及其致病性钩端螺旋体物种的流行程度。在爆发地区，这些地区被归类为城市，半城市和休闲林。采样涉及在每个研究地点部署100到300个活陷阱。从选定的个体中提取肾脏样品，以筛选致病性钩端螺旋体spp。通过PCR。在捕获的15种小型哺乳动物物种的537个人中，城市记录了4种，半城市记录了13种，休闲林地记录了11种。从389名被筛查的个体中，有58名被测试为致病性钩端螺旋体阳性。游憩森林的流行率最高，为19.4％（n  = 93），其次是城市地区的16.6％（n  = 163）和半城市地区的9.8％（n  = 133）。所有地区的七个啮齿类动物的致病性钩端螺旋体均呈阳性。褐家鼠发现怀有发生率最高（66.7％）在城市，R.褐在半城市（53.8％），由此M. whiteheadi（44.4％）在休闲林地中。微生物栖息地的分析表明，垃圾的数量对钩端螺旋体的高流行尤其重要。这项研究有助于了解钩端螺旋体的寄主和微生境偏好，这对于控制这种疾病在人类景观中的传播至关重要。