Links to Other Lepto Places
- European Leptospirosis Society
- Global Leptospirosis Environmental Action Network (GLEAN)
- Information on Leptospirosis from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta
- Leptospirosis Fact Sheet from the World Health Organization
- Leptospirosis New Zealand – including an informational presentation and video
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, UK
- Biology of Spirochetes Unit, Institut Pasteur
- Leptospira Diagnostic Serology, Monash University
- Leptospirosis Reference Laboratory, Queensland, Australia
- Leptospirosis Reference Centre, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, University of Amsterdam including a Leptospira Library with information about all leptospiral species, serogroups, serovars and reference strains, their sources and country of isolation and resources for serotyping of isolates. For more information, see Serotyping with Monoclonal Antibodies.
- National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) at USDA offering Diagnostic Testing of specimens and Reagents including leptospiral strains and reference control antisera for MAT
- The Dr. Leopold Kirschner serovar isolation database (otago.ac.nz): A searchable/downloadable database of isolations or detections from animals globally, where serovar was reliably typed.
- Haake Research Laboratory at UCLA/VA Los Angeles
Proficiency Testing for Leptospirosis Diagnostics
- The International MAT Proficiency Testing Program
- AccuTest Proficiency Testing for Leptospirosis PCR – the catalog number for the leptospirosis PCR proficiency testing program is LEPN435
- VETQAS Proficiency Testing for Leptospirosis PCR – the catalog number for the leptospirosis PCR proficiency testing program is PT0153
Other Resources
- Leptospira and Leptospirosis, Adler B (Ed), 2015, Springer
- Leptospira and Leptospirosis, Faine S, Adler B, Bolin C, Perolat P (Eds), 1999, MediSci (pdf) – Important caveat: this pdf file is provided with no guarantee of accuracy. The authors and publishers accept no responsibility for its contents.
- List of leptospiral species names with standing in nomenclature
- Genotypic data for molecular strain typing for Leptospira isolates based on core genome MLST (cgMLST)
- PubMLST website for leptospiral multilocus sequence typing
- Kmety-Dikken leptospiral serovar classification 1993 (pdf). Leptospiral serovars defined after 1993 available in the Leptospira Library
- The WHO/ILS publication “Human Leptospirosis: Guidance For Diagnosis, Surveillance And Control” (pdf)
- The Leptospirosis Case Report Form (pdf) used by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Leptospiral History
- The life of Leopold Kirschner who, in 1951, became the first person to confirm the presence of leptospirosis in humans in New Zealand.
- The initial descriptions of leptospirosis in New Zealand (pdf)
- An homage to our friend and colleague, Marga Goris (pdf), prepared by Hans van der Linden on behalf of the members of the Expertise Centre for Leptospirosis and WOAH Reference Laboratory for Leptospirosis, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, The Netherlands.
Leptospiral Nomenclature
At its 2002 meeting, the Committee on the Taxonomy of Leptospira of the International Union of Microbiological Societies approved the following nomenclature for serovars of Leptospira:
- The Genus and species must of course be italicized
- The serovar name (not italicized) must have an upper case first letter.
Examples of correct leptospiral nomenclature:
- Leptospira interrogans serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae
- L. borgpetersenii serovar Hardjo
Members are requested to adhere to this official nomenclature and to insist upon it in all papers they review.
Subcommittee on the Taxonomy of Leptospiraceae of the International Union of Microbiological Societies
Members
Mathieu Picardeau (Chair; Paris, France); Renee Galloway (Atlanta, USA); Cyrille Goarant (Nouméa, New Caledonia); David Haake (Los Angeles, USA); Ahmed Ahmed (Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Jarlath Nally (Ames, USA); Megan Staples (Brisbane, Australia); and Nathan Stone (Flagstaff, USA).
Position Statement: Speciation of Leptospiral Isolates and Minimum Criteria for Species Definition
The rapid technical progress in sequencing technology has made genome sequencing a routine and relatively inexpensive method for species delineation.
- The full ILS position statement revised in November 2023 (pdf)
- Genome sequence information for reference strains of all known leptospiral species (Excel)
Taxonomy Subcommittee Meeting Minutes
- November 2022 (pdf)
- July 2019 (pdf)
- November 2017 (pdf)
- October 2015 (pdf)
- October 2013 (pdf)
- September 2011 (pdf)
- September 2009 (pdf)
- September 2007 (pdf)
- November 2005 (pdf)
- July 1994 (pdf)
- September 1990 (pdf)
- September 1986 (pdf)
- August 1982 (pdf)
- September 1978 (pdf)
- August – September 1973 (pdf)
- August 1970 (pdf)
- July 1966 (pdf)
- August 1962 (pdf)
- August 1958 (pdf)
- April 1954 (pdf)