Vet World   Vol.15   June-2022  Article-7

Leptospirosis in rats and livestock in Bantul and Gunungkidul district, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Background and Aim: The animal reservoir of leptospirosis is comprised of both domestic and wild mammals, with rats known as the most important in the spread of the disease. The occurrence of this reservoir in residential areas increases the potential for leptospirosis transmission. This study aimed to investigate the type of reservoirs and estimate the prevalence of leptospirosis in rats and livestock animals in Bantul and Gunungkidul districts, Special Region of Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia.

Materials and Methods: This research utilized a cross-sectional study design. Rat trapping and livestock (cattle, goat, and sheep) blood surveys were conducted at four locations in each district. Samples of rat renal and livestock blood serum were examined using the polymerase chain reaction technique to determine the presence of Leptospira bacteria. The data were analyzed descriptively by describing the species of rats trapped, the types of cattle, and the prevalence of Leptospira in the sample.

Results: The rat species infected with Leptospira in Bantul district consisted of Rattus tanezumi 4.8% (3/63); Rattus norvegicus 12.5% (2/16); Bandicota indica 28.6% (2/7); and Bandicota bengalensis 50.0% (1/2). No rats were found to be positive for Leptospira in Gunungkidul district. The prevalence of Leptospira in cattle was 63.64% (7/11) in Bantul district and 50.00% (8/16) in Gunungkidul district. In goats and sheep, the prevalence of Leptospira was 22.22% (2/9) in Bantul district and 45.16% (14/31) in Gunungkidul district.

Conclusion: The potential exists for transmission of leptospirosis from rats and cattle in Bantul and Gunungkidul Districts. It is necessary to increase leptospirosis awareness. Community education, especially for livestock farmers, needs to be improved to prevent the transmission of leptospirosis from livestock. Keywords: cattle, leptospirosis, prevalence, rats.

Keywords: cattle, leptospirosis, prevalence, rats.

How to cite this article: Sunaryo S, Priyanto D (2022) Leptospirosis in rats and livestock in Bantul and Gunungkidul district, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Veterinary World, 15(6): 1449-1455.

Received: 27-12-2021  Accepted: 20-04-2022     Published online: 12-06-2022

Corresponding author: Sunaryo Sunaryo   E-mail: aryryo51@gmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.1449-1455

Copyright: Sunaryo and Priyanto, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.