Vol. 8, Issue 2 (2019)

Author(s):
Preeti, Laxmi Bai, Ramkaran and Ravi Kumar

Abstract:
Leptospirosis caused by pathogenic spirochaetes of the genus Leptospira is a zoonosis of global distribution. Humans become infected through contact with water or soil, contaminated by the urine of infected animals such as rodents, dogs, cattle and pigs. Either organism’s isolation from the patient or on sero-conversion or a rise in antibody titre in the MAT is the definite diagnostic method. Some other tests used for diagnosis are- Dark field microscopy (DFM), Immunofluorescence (IF), Immunohistochemistry, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Enzyme Linked Sorbent Assay (ELISA), Indirect Haemagglutination Assay (IHA) and Lepto-Dipstick. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) or culture has to be done to identify the specific serovar. The various available tests for leptospirosis diagnosis have been explained in this article.