Leptospirosis in Trinidad and Grenada, with special reference to the mongoose

Abstract

In Trinidad, six Leptospira isolates were made from 957 febrile patients between 1968 and 1972. In addition, CF antibodies were detected in 6·6% of febrile patients and human survey sera collected during this period. In 1972 alone, 10·4% () of sera examined had CF titres consistent with positive exposure to the disease. Grenada does not report leptospirosis, but the disease is common in mongooses in both Trinidad and Grenada. Serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae, Pomona and Canicola are present in Grenada with 35·2% of mongooses examined being seropositive. Five Canicola strains of Leptospira were isolated from mongooses in Trinidad, and serological studies showed that this was the most common serogroup from mongooses on the island. A total of 31 strains recorded from at least seven different serogroups and eight named serotypes have been isolated from humans, rats and mongooses in Trinidad. Human leptospirosis is probably more common in the Caribbean than the medical records indicate.