Incidence of Leptospirosis in Wild Mammals from Southwestern Georgia, with a Report of New Hosts for Six Serotypes of Leptospires

摘要

From November 4, 1954, to March 20, 1956, 1,091 mammals were trapped in southwestern Georgia. Of these, 820 were tested for leptospires by culturing kidney tissue, and 44 (5.4%) were found positive. The leptospires involved were identified by agglutination and cross-agglutinin-adsorption tests as serologically homologous to L. ballum, L. pomona, L. australis A, L. grippotyphosa, and serotype members of the L. hebdomadis and L. mitis-hyos serogroups. The hosts were as follows: opossum for L. ballum and members of the L. mitis-hyos serogroup; gray fox for L. ballum; raccoon for L. ballum, L. pomona, L. australis A, L. grippotyphosa, and a member of the L. hebdomadis serogroup; striped skunk for L. ballum and L. pomona; and wildcat for L. ballum and L. pomona. No correlation was found between the incidence of infection by a given serotype of leptospires and density of the various species of mammals or the total mammalian population.