ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
Sero-prevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies and associated risk factors in rural Rwanda: A cross-sectional study.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 11 citations in OpenAlex.
- Leptospirosis Seroprevalence in Humans and Livestock of East Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2000-2024).Veterinary medicine and science · 2025Pooled it
- Global distribution of Leptospira serovar isolations and detections from animal host species: A systematic review and online database.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2024Pooled it
- Leptospirosis in humans and selected animals in Sub-Saharan Africa, 2014-2022: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Pooled it
- Knowledge, attitudes, practices (KAP), and risk factors toward zoonotic diseases among smallholder livestock farmers in Bugesera district of Rwanda.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Leptospirosis seroprevalence and risk factors among slaughterhouse workers in Burkina Faso.IJID regions · 2023Article
- Global distribution ofmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundLeptospirosis is a zoonotic disease transmitted through the urine of wild and domestic animals, and is responsible for over 50,000 deaths each year. In East Africa, prevalence varies greatly, from as low as 7% in Kenya to 37% in Somalia. Transmission epidemiology also varies around the world, with research in Nicaragua showing that rodents are the most clinically important, while studies in Egypt and Chile suggest that dogs may play a more important role. There are no published studies of leptospirosis in Rwanda. METHODS &
findingsWe performed a cross-sectional survey of asymptomatic adults recruited from five occupational categories. Serum samples were tested using ELISA and Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). We found that 40.1% (151/377) of asymptomatic adults had been exposed to Leptospira spp. Almost 36.3% of positive subjects reported contact with rats (137/377) which represent 90.7% among positive leptospira serology compared with 48.2% of negative subjects (182/377) which represent 80.5% among negative leptospira serology (OR 2.37, CI 1.25-4.49) and 1.7 fold on prevalence ratio and 2.37 of odd ratio. Furthermore, being a crop farmer was significantly associated with leptospirosis (OR 2.06, CI 1.29-3.28). We identified 6 asymptomatic subjects (1.6%) who met criteria for acute infection.
conclusionsThis study demonstrates a high prevalence of leptospiral antibodies infection among asymptomatic adults in rural Rwanda, particularly relative to neighboring countries. Although positive subjects were more likely to report rat contact, we found no independent association between rats and leptospirosis infection. Nonetheless, exposure was high among crop farmers, which is supportive of the hypothesis that rats together with domestic livestock might contribute to the transmission. Further studies are needed to understand infecting Leptospira servers and elucidate the transmission epidemiology in Rwanda and identify means of host transmitters.
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