LEPTOSPIROSIS

Wisconsin Division of Public Health Disease Surveillance Manual (EpiNet, February 2005)

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I. IDENTIFICATION

A. CLINICAL DESCRIPTION: An illness caused by the bacterium Leptospira interrogans, characterized by fever, myalgia, conjunctival suffusion, and less frequently by meningitis, rash, jaundice, or renal insufficiency.

B. REPORTING CRITERIA: Clinical diagnosis with laboratory confirmation.

C. LABORATORY CRITERIA FOR CONFIRMATION:

  • Isolation of Leptospira from a clinical specimen, OR
  • Demonstration of Leptospira in a clinical specimen by immunofluorescence, OR
  • Fourfold or greater change in Leptospira agglutination titer between paired sera obtained ³ 2 weeks apart and studied at the same laboratory.

D. WISCONSIN CASE DEFINITION: A clinically compatible illness that is laboratory confirmed.

II. ACTIONS REQUIRED / PREVENTION MEASURES

A. WISCONSIN DISEASE SURVEILLANCE CATEGORY II: Report to the patient's local health officer on an Acute and Communicable Disease Case Report (DPH 4151) or other means within 72 hours of the identification of a case or suspected case.

B. EPIDEMIOLOGY REPORTS REQUESTED: Acute and Communicable Diseases Case Report (DPH 4151).

C. PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTIONS:

Source investigation by LHD. Search for history of exposure to infected animals or animal urine (including rodents) and to potentially contaminated water sources, including recreational water.

III. CONTACTS FOR CONSULTATION

A. BCDP COMMUNICABLE DISEASE EPIDEMIOLOGY SECTION: (608) 267-7321.

B. REGIONAL STAFF: See Epinet Introduction: “REGIONAL OFFICE CONTACTS”.

C. WSLH /

1. BACTERIAL SEROLOGY: (608) 262-3217
2. CULTURE: (608) 263-3421.

IV. RELATED REFERENCES

1. “Leptospirosis” DPH Disease Fact Sheet Series: View a list of all current Communicable Disease Fact Sheets

2. Heymann DL, ed. LEGIONELLOSIS. Control of Communicable Diseases Manual. 18 th ed. Washington , DC : American Public Health Association, 2004:292-295.

V. DISEASE TRENDS

There has been only one case of leptospirosis reported in Wisconsin between 1999 and 2003. That patient had contracted the disease in Wisconsin .