Leptospirosis in humans (Weil’s disease)

Home   ›  Marburg virus disease (MVD)

What is leptospirosis?

Leptospirosis is a highly infectious zoonotic disease caused by the Leptospira bacteria affecting humans and animals. Icteric leptospirosis in humans is known as Weil’s disease. It may also appear as an asymptomatic and subclinical infection.



Leptospirosis symptoms range widely and are usually ignored or wrongly diagnosed as some other human sickness. Untreated infection can become icteric, leading to hepatitis, meningitis, renal failure, respiratory failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, and even loss of human life. The disease is more prevalent in tropical, subtropical and temperate climates.

What causes leptospirosis?

Leptospirosis is caused by the spirochetes (spiral bacteria). The spirochetes belong to the genus Leptospira, the family Leptospiraceae, and the order Spirochaetales. These anaerobic bacteria are thin, coiled and motile.

Comprising several pathogenic and nonpathogenic species, typical disease manifestations in humans such as Weil disease, jaundice, pretibial erythematous rash, meningitis and gastroenteritis are associated with different serovars (strains).

The bacteria can enter the human body through the contaminated water and food, skin injuries, animal bites and mucous membrane. The bacteria spread to humans through the urine, feces or body fluids of the infected animals.

They can infect a wide variety of domestic as well as wild animals, which not showing any symptoms of the disease, may continue to shed the bacteria into the surroundings for months together.

These infective discharges, by contaminating the drinking water and food, can spread the infection to humans and animals. Floodwaters have been found to spread the disease far and wide and cause leptospirosis outbreaks.

What are the risks of exposure?

Human occupational exposure to infected animals can also spread the bacterial disease among farmers, veterinarians, fish farmers, dairy workers, abattoir workers, sewer workers and animal caretakers.

Leptospira bacteria
Leptospirosis causing bacteria

People associated with water sports like, swimming, kayaking, rafting run the high risk of contracting leptospirosis, if the waters are polluted.

What are the symptoms of the disease

The incubation period is usually 5-14 days but in some cases the symptoms have taken 2-30 days to develop in humans. The common clinical symptoms of the infection include, fever, headache, body pains, dry cough, rash, sore throat and chills. Gastrointestinal tract symptoms include anorexia, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Untreated leptospirosis disease may cause many systemic manifestations in humans, mostly by capillary vasculitis of the organ systems leading to hepatic failure, renal failure, pulmonary hemorrhage, respiratory failure, meningitis, interstitial myocarditis, adrenal hemorrhage, conjunctival suffusion and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

What is the treatment for leptospirosis

Mild infections in humans can be treated with doxycycline, ampicillin, penicillin, azithromycin, erythromycin or amoxicillin. For severe human leptospirosis, third-generation cephalosporins like cefotaxime and ceftriaxone may be administered. Intravenous penicillin G is also effective for mild to severe cases of infection.

References:
1.Vijayachari P, Sugunan AP, Shriram AN. Leptospirosis: an emerging global public health problem. J Biosci. 2008 Nov;33(4):557-69.
2.Puliyath G, Singh S. Leptospirosis in pregnancy. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2012 Oct;31(10):2491-6.
3.Wasiński B. Leptospirosis–current problems. Przegl Epidemiol. 2011;65(3):471-6.

Current topic in health and fitness tips: Leptospirosis in humans (Weil’s disease).

14 Replies to “Leptospirosis in humans (Weil’s disease)”

  1. Rhett Hermsen says:

    I never heard of leptospirosis. Superb blog by the way!

    1. Rhett Hermsen Leptospirosis is more common in tropical countries. Thanks.

  2. Kirsten Ruland says:

    Thanks for the detailed information. Good blog post.

  3. Kelvin Bertrano says:

    Oh Leptospirosis is so harmful. Thanks for sharing your ideas.

  4. Reggie Pagliaro says:

    Afflicted by leptospirosis disease can affect the overall quality of life. Self-esteem, depressive disorder, health risks, and physical ability. Rats are the main culprits.

  5. Sterling Lagore says:

    Awesome website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any message boards that cover the same topics discussed in this article? I’d really love to be a part of group where I can get feed-back from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest. If you have any recommendations, please let me know. Thank you!

  6. Howdy! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could get a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having trouble finding one? Thanks a lot!

  7. Vito Wetenkamp says:

    Leptospirosis, also known as Weil’s disease, is caused by bacteria and propagated by animals, mostly rodents.

  8. Pingback: Peach fruit facts

Leave a Reply to Kirsten Ruland Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *