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A unique strain of Leptospira isolated from a patient with pulmonary haemorrhages in the Andaman Islands: a proposal of serovar portblairi of serogroup Sehgali

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2004

P. VIJAYACHARI
Affiliation:
National Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Post Bag No. 13, Port Blair 744 101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
R. A. HARTSKEERL
Affiliation:
KIT – Biomedical Research, WHO/FAO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis, Royal Tropical Institute, Meibergdreef 39, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
S. SHARMA
Affiliation:
National Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Post Bag No. 13, Port Blair 744 101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
K. NATARAJASEENIVASAN
Affiliation:
National Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Post Bag No. 13, Port Blair 744 101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
S. ROY
Affiliation:
National Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Post Bag No. 13, Port Blair 744 101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
W. J. TERPSTRA
Affiliation:
KIT – Biomedical Research, WHO/FAO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Leptospirosis, Royal Tropical Institute, Meibergdreef 39, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands
S. C. SEHGAL
Affiliation:
National Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Regional Medical Research Centre, Indian Council of Medical Research, Post Bag No. 13, Port Blair 744 101, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India
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Abstract

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Leptospirosis is endemic in the Andaman Islands, often occurring as outbreaks during the post-monsoon period. Pulmonary involvement is common and associated with high morbidity and mortality. During the investigation of an outbreak in North Andaman in 1996 an isolate was recovered from the blood of a patient with fever, headache, body aches and haemoptysis with respiratory distress as presenting symptoms. The isolate was characterized using the cross-agglutination absorption test (CAAT) and monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The isolate showed typical morphology and characteristic motility of the genus Leptospira. Growth was inhibited at 13 °C and in the presence of 8-azaguanine. The isolate could not be identified with grouping sera representing 25 serogroups, CAAT and mAbs. A new serovar of a new serogroup is proposed. Genetic characterization using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by sequencing of the PCR product and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA fingerprinting (RAPD) showed that the isolate was genetically similar to L. interrogans sensu stricto.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press