Leptospirosis in Slaughterhouse Personnel: A Seroepidemiologic Study Using Microscopic Agglutination Test

Meat can be contaminated by Leptospira species. This bacterial pathogen causes severe leptospirosis disease in humans and animals. The major aims of this study were to assess seroepidemiological prevalence of leptospirosis in employees of a slaughterhouse in Guilan Province, Iran, using microscopic agglutination test and further investigate the positive samples using nested polymerase chain reaction method.

In this study, 150 employees of a slaughterhouse in Guilan Province, Iran, were participated after completing written consents and personal questionnaires. This sample size was calculated based on the mean prevalence of the pathogen in the region. After assessing sera of the participants for Leptospira antibody using microscopic agglutination test, urine samples were collected from the positive participant for further assessments using nested polymerase chain reaction.

Based on the results, microscopic agglutination test was positive for 10.7% of the participants. However, Nested-PCR was negative for the positive microscopic agglutination tests on sera collected from the participants with antibodies against Leptospira antigens. The current results demonstrate that Leptospira can occur in asymptomatic humans in slaughterhouses and highlight the high potential of the disease transmission to humans in the province. Therefore, further extended control and prevention measures for slaughterhouse workers are recommended to guarantee the food safety. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.