REGULAR ARTICLES Epidemiology behavior of leptospirosis in Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba (Colombia) C. Ensuncho-Hoyos 1 & V Rodríguez-Rodríguez 2 & A. Pérez-Doria 3 & O. Vergara 1 & A Calderón-Rangel 1 Received: 15 March 2017 /Accepted: 31 May 2017 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2017 Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the epidemiology of leptospirosis in rural areas of Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba, Colombia, a convenience sampling was carried out on 13 farms. The sample size was 325 reproductive age cows, 11 canine samples, and 20 humans. The samples were subjected to MAT analysis with 11 serogroups of Leptospira interrogans sensu lato. Once the MAT results were received, urine samples were collected from 78 cows, along with 39 water samples, for bacteriological cultures and PCR for the 16S rRNA gene in L. interrogans sensu lato. Positive PCR samples were sequenced to determine the possible genome species. The leptospirosis seroprevalence was 74.5% in the cattle, 70.0% in the dogs, and 45.5% in the humans. Although isolation was not achieved, L. interrogans sensu lato was detected by PCR in three urine samples and in a sample of wastewater. The sequencing confirmed the circula- tion of pathogenic species. The high prevalence of antibodies for L. interrogans sensu lato and the molecular evidence led to the inference that the rural areas of Ciénaga de Oro are en- demic and that cattle can act as renal carriers and contaminate water sources, which increases the risk of contracting leptospirosis. Keywords Leptospira interrogans . Serovar . Public health . Zoonoses Introduction Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease that infects humans and domestic and wild mammals around the world. This disease has global distribution and potentially lethal effects on humans (Ayral et al. 2014). The infection is caused by lepto- spires within the pathogenic complex Leptospira interrogans sensu lato (Adler and Peña 2010). Humans can become infected with any pathogenic serovar of Leptospira spp. through contact with fluids from infected animal or the environment (Goris et al. 2013). Soil (Saito et al. 2013), and surface waters (Hochedez et al. 2013) contaminat- ed with chronically infected water remain an important source of human leptospirosis transmission worldwide. Infected cattle are generally asymptomatic and can dissem- inate the bacterium through urine (leptospiruria) for long pe- riods (Salgado et al. 2014). Economic losses are represented by reproductive failures, abortions, births of weak calves, and decreased milk production. Some cattle with chronic infec- tions act as reservoirs for other cattle and other species, such as infections caused by Hardjo serovar resulting in acute dis- ease in humans or dogs, producing acute disease (Ellis 1984; Adler and Peña 2010; Yoo 2010; Fonzar and Langoni 2012; Tilahun et al. 2013; Mwachui et al. 2015). The municipality of Ciénaga de Oro, Córdoba (Colombia), has characteristics and conditions that favor the presence, mul- tiplication, and infection by bacteria from the genus Leptospira in water sources, animals, and man, such as tem- perature (27 °C), a predominantly tropical humidity, and pres- ence of mammals that can serve as a source of infection. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological * O. Vergara overgara@correo.unicordoba.educ.co 1 Tropical Animal Production Research Group, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Colombia 2 Group of Microbiological and Biomedical Investigations of Córdoba, Bacteriology Program, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Colombia 3 Biomedical Research Group, University of Sucre, Sincelejo, Colombia Trop Anim Health Prod DOI 10.1007/s11250-017-1332-6