RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Koizumi, Nobuo A1 Muto, Maki A1 Tanikawa, Tsutomu A1 Mizutani, Hiroshi A1 Sohmura, Yoshiko A1 Hayashi, Eiji A1 Akao, Nobuaki A1 Hoshino, Mayu A1 Kawabata, Hiroki A1 Watanabe, HaruoYR 2009 T1 Human leptospirosis cases and the prevalence of rats harbouring Leptospira interrogans in urban areas of Tokyo, Japan JF Journal of Medical Microbiology, VO 58 IS 9 SP 1227 OP 1230 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/jmm.0.011528-0 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1473-5644, AB Thirteen patients with leptospirosis were identified, as confirmed by laboratory analysis during the last 5 years in our laboratory, who came from urban areas of Tokyo, Japan. All of the patients came into contact with rats before the onset of illness. Seventeen per cent of Norway rats captured in the inner cities of Tokyo carried leptospires in their kidneys. Most of these rat isolates were Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni/Icterohaemorrhagiae. Antibodies against these serovars and their DNA were detected in the patients. This suggests that rats are important reservoirs of leptospirosis, and that rat-borne leptospires occur in urban areas of Tokyo., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.011528-0