The Use of Commercial Soil Nucleic Acid Extraction Kit and Nested PCR for Detection of Leptospira in Farm Environment after Flooding in Taiwan

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a rapidly transmitted and flood-related disease. The number of cases usually increase in the countries of Southeast Asia after flood damage during typhoon seasons. This disease also poses a potential threat to Taiwan due to its geographic characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a practical technique for an estimation of the distribution of Leptospira in natural environment, especially after flood damage. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the use of commercial soil nucleic acid extraction kits with nested PCR in the detection of Leptospira spp. in the farm environment. The detection limit for Leptospira DNA was 24.24 pg. A total of 108 soil samples were collected from farms located within flood-damaged areas; the overall positive rate was 30.6%. Based on the sequence analysis, positive samples were identified as Leptospira interrogans and Leptospira biflexa. This developed approach might be applied in a surveillance of leptospirosis in different countries or in the detection of other pathogens from soils.